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ARTICLES 



ON 



CASES OF INTOXICATION 



RELATED IN THE 



Christian SeriDtures. 



BY ELIJAH RAWSON. 

an alumnus of what has been called "the poor boys' college,' 
[a printing office]; formerly editor and publisher of the 
"yeoman's record" at irasburgh, vt.; ex-professor of 
typography, and assistant-editor in several news- 
paper offices in vermont and north-eastern new york. 

ALSO 

A SERMON BY BISHOP WELLES, 

LATE BISHOP OF MILWAUKEE. 





MILWAUKEE, WIS. 

PRINTED BY THE RIVERSIDE PRINTING CO. 

1889. 






-aft** 



Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1889, by 
Elijah Bawson, in the office of the Librarian of 
Congress at Washington. 



INDEX. 



ARTICLE. PAGE. 

Introduction 6 

I. Eve and Adam (Illustrated) 7 

II. Cain (Illustrated) 13 

III. Sons of God 17 

IV. Noah 21 

V. Inhabitants of a Plain in Shinar 26 

VI. Abram 30 

VII. Lot 35 

VIII. Lot and His Daughters 43 

IX. Esau 47 

X. Rebecca and Jacob 51 

XL Shechem, Dinah, Simeon and Levi 57 

XII. Joseph's Brethren 63 

XIII. Herod the Great, (2 illustrations) 68 

XIV. Herod Antipas 75 

XV. The Unthankful Subjects 79 

XVI. The Faithful Servant who may become \ oq 

an Evil Servant . . / 

XVII. The Rich Young Man 96 

XVIII. The Two Sons 102 

XIX. The Wicked Husbandmen 108 

XX. The Unsympathetic Neighbors . 115 

XXI. The Foolish Virgins 119 

XXII. The Wicked and Slothful Servant 123 

XXIII. Judas Iscariot, (Illustrated) 129 

XXIV. Peter, (Illustrated) 136 

PORTRAIT of Bishop Welles 141 

ECCLESIASTICAL Record of Bishop Welles 142 

SERMON on the Prodigal Son, by Bishop Welles. 143 



PREFACE. 



SINCE coming to Milwaukee, several years ago, I have 
written several articles which have been published in 
" The Christian Statesman," under the general title of 
" Cases of Intoxication related in the Scriptures." 
In those articles I used the word " Intoxication" in the 
large sense — including any influence which induces a 
person to do a wrong act, and in each article endeavored 
to show the connection between the cause of the act and 
the act and the consequences of the act, as gathered 
from the after history of the actors and their descend- 
ants, and added cautions and exhortations to the read- 
ers against the intoxicating influences of the world, the 
flesh and the devils ; and also, in most cases, referring to 
a similar instance in the same volume. 

Having on one occasion desired the opinion of the 
Rt. Rev. Dr. Welles, the late Bishop of Milwaukee, he 
kindly consented to examine one of the articles, and on 
expressing a favorable opinion of it, desired to examine 
the whole series as far as written, which he did, and as 
a result of that examination, expressed the opinion that 
they would be useful in a book-form. 

In the following pages the full number of the arti- 
cles as designed are presented, in the hope that they 



will help those who are struggling w T ith the evil tenden- 
cies of their own hearts and the corrupting influences 
surrounding them, to maintain a successful contest 
against the foes of their well-being. 

I do not claim that the subjects have been treated 
exhaustively, but I have tried to so present the leading 
thoughts and motives which may be drawn from the 
passages remarked upon, that readers of ordinary intel- 
ligence can understand what I have written, and by the 
aid of the Holy Spirit be enabled to keep themselves 
faithful and obedient servants of the Lord Jesus — The 
Christ. 

I hereby acknowledge my obligations to Mr. More- 
house, of the Young Churchman Company, for the use 
of electrotypes with which this volume is illustrated. 

E. R. 

For testimonials see end of the volume. 

405 Florida st., Milwaukee, Wis. 



INTRODUCTION. 



SO much has been said of the sin of Intoxication of 
late years, that the people of this generation have lost 
sight of the original cause of its first commission. 
When we wish to understand a subject thoroughly, it 
seems to me that we should look deeper into it than to 
merely consider the present manifestations of it, for it 
is not unlikely that, in the present day the beginnings 
of a course of inebriety may in many cases, be similar 
to that which caused the first occurrence of intoxi- 
cation. 

Alcohol is not the only thing that will cause intoxi- 
cation ; nor is that condition only caused by material 
things; for thoughts, fancies, and words, when accom- 
panied by that mysterious influence known as animal 
magnetism, do intoxicate the human mind, so that 
those affected by them conduct themselves very differ- 
ently from what they would were they not thus 
influenced. 

I define intoxication to be that state of mind which 
leads a person to do or say what they would not do or 
say if they were fully aware of the results which would 
follow their conduct; such as when the passions are so 
excited that the individuals are beyond the control of 
reason. 

I design, in the following pages to give some 
thoughts upon several of the Cases of Intoxication 
related in the Christian Scriptures, in the expectation 
that we may be able to discover the way in which the 
Lord dealt with those who, through the imperfection 
of their fallen nature were unable to resist the tempta- 
tions which assailed them. 

[I advise the reader in studying the subject to care- 
fully read the passages of scriptures referred to.] 



ARTICLE I. 



Eve and Adam. — Gen. iii. 

THE conduct of Eve, in her interview with the 
serpent, as related in the third chapter of Genesis, 
shows an evident excitement of feeling of the nature of 
intoxication. She was induced to consent to suggest- 
ions, which her love for her Creator and gratitude to 
her preserver and benefactor, would otherwise, in their 
unfallen state, have led her to reject with a decision 
and promptitude which would have rendered a repeti- 
tion of the temptation not very likely to be offered. 
We may suppose that our first parents had not, at that 
time, discovered a process by which the juices of 
the fruits might be changed to an intoxicating liquid, 
or if they had, it is unreasonable to think that their 
natural taste had become so perverted that they would 
have relished such a beverage ; therefore we will look 
in another direction for the cause of their intoxication. 
The serpent, we are informed, was very subtle; and 
perhaps we can hardly form an idea of the cautious 
and wily movements with which he advanced in the 
process of temptation, the object of which was to seduce 
Eve and Adam from their cheerful and happy allegi- 
ance to God. It is probable that the first parts of the 
interviews are not given and that Satan had, by many 
previous acts and suggestions, prepared the way for 
the great skeptical question which was calculated to 
cast doubt upon God's word, and lead Eve to imagine 
that God really meant less than He said. Possibly 
Satan had sought first to influence her through the 
" lust of the flesh," calling her attention to the pleasur- 



8 EVE AND ADAM. 

able sensations which the gratification of her appetite 
caused, advising her to a continued indulgence, when 
her natural judgment told her that her thoughts ought 
to be exercised by thankfulness to the Lord, and ador- 
ing admiration of His wonderful works spread around. 
Then the "lust of the eye 7 ' may have been addressed 
as he called to her notice the beauty of the fruit upon 
the tree in the midst of the garden, leading her to infer 
that its delicious qualities were as much superior to 
those of the other trees, as its inviting aspects were 
more attractive than the fruits from which she 
had hitherto supplied her real wants, so that, instead 
of raising her thoughts from its beauty to the power 
and wisdom of the Creator, she was drawn to thoughts 
of violating the only commandment which had been 
given them as a test of love and obedience by the 
Ruler of the Universe. And when the serpent assured 
her that the eating of the forbidden fruit would open 
her eyes, so that she w r ould know good and evil by 
such a wonderful experience as would greatly increase 
her knowledge, her " pride of life " was powerfully 
appealed to, and she began to have imaginings similar 
to some modern ideas of progress; and so, instead of 
cheerfully waiting for such revelations as God might 
have been pleased to give in regard to the use which 
was to be made of the tree of knowledge of good and 
evil, she took and did eat. 

x^fter disobeying God herself, Eve sought her hus- 
band, taking with her some of the fruit and offered to 
him, which he, though probably aware of the source 
from which it was procured, and the strict command 
of the Creator relating to it, and to some extent the 
consequences which would result from an act of dis- 
obedience, ate of it, and thus became a partaker with 
her in the guilt and danger of the first transgression, 



EVE AND ADAM. 9 

influenced to the act by the fear of losing her com" 
panionship, unless he by sharing her guilt, should be 
able to share her punishment, which, so bewildered his 
mind, warped his judgment and excited his fears, that 
he was, like many of his descendants, induced to 
persevere in the gratification of a passion, though 
having good reason for believing that it would end in 
sorrow and irretrievable loss. 

And they both soon found that shame, disgrace and 
condemnation was the result of yielding to the tempta- 
tion ; this being followed by expulsion from Eden, 
they realized by a bitter experience that for the gratifi- 
cation of a few sensual pleasures, they had lost the 
enduring delights of holiness and happiness in the 
ways of love and obedience, and entailed on themselves 
and their posterity, lives of labor, sorrow and pain in 
this life, with cause for fearful forebodings of still 
greater and more lasting distresses in a future state. 

I think it may be stated that, as a general rule, the' 
scriptures teach that all who pretend to have super- 
natural powers, except the accredited prophets and 
teachers of God's laws, are influenced by evil spirits, 
and therefore should be resisted and shunned. As a 
confirmation of this idea, I will refer to some passages 
in the bible bearing on the point. The first I refer to 
is in Lev. xix, 31, and in the same book [xx, 6, 27; 
Deut. xviii, 10 — 12]. And coming to the new testa- 
ment, we have it stated as a fact that by Satan's 
influence Judas betrayed Christ. In the Acts of the 
Apostles we learn that Annanias and Sapphira were 
brought to ruin through the same influence. 

In concluding I wish to give a few words of exhorta- 
tion to the readers. 

And first, I urge all, now that we have a way opened 
by which we may escape the fearful castrophe which 



10 EVE AND ADAM. 

the infatuation of our first parents has subjected their 
descendants; to look well to our surroundings and 
inward tendencies, and by the light of God's word, 
through the help of the Holy Spirit, and in the use of 
the providential means of grace, to avoid everything 
calculated to obscure in their minds the influence of 
the important truths that are intimately connected 
with their souls' welfare ; and to suggest to them a few 
questions, which they can answer to themselves: 

Do any perceive suggestions that seem to come from 
their own hearts which awake in them a desire to do 
or say something which their consciences convince 
them is displeasing to God? Parley not with the feel- 
ing, lest it prove a temptation of the devil, and they, 
like Eve, lament their yielding to his wiles, under a 
sense of the loss of purity, the favor of God, and their 
present and future happiness. 

Do any imagine that sensual delights will com- 
pensate them for the neglect of the duties which are 
laid upon them to their Creator by their consciences ? 
Put away the suspicious thought; lest they, like our 
first mother, find that what promises to be a delight- 
some gratification, turns upon them in a corroding 
remorse. 

Do any have an idea come to their minds, that if 
they could be relieved of the restraints of the gospel, 
they would be happier now, and be able to better 
promote their own future happiness. Banish the 
false notion from their minds, lest they, like the first 
woman, discover that knowledge without holiness, will 
only render their souls more sensitive and miserable 
under the just condemnation ot the most wise and 
powerful Being in the Universe, whose laws they have 
scorned, while living by His power, and enjoying the 
blessings of His providence. 



EVE AND ADAM. 11 

Do any have thoughts that, if they could secure the 
approval of others to their notions of distrust of God's 
word, they would thereby acquire new strength to go 
on in the way of their fancies, and secure honor and 
applause among their fellow-men. Let them pause 
seriously before they try to attain such a result, lest 
they, like the first wife, learn by a sad and mortifying 
experience, that they have been doing that which will 
bring those they love to an inevitable and fearful de- 
struction ; and that instead of receiving plaudits and 
admiration, they receive imprecations accompanied by 
every imaginable manifestation of hate which the 
damned have power to express, and worse still, they 
feel that they deserve it ; and, most dreadful of all, 
experience the righteous judgment of that Being whose 
wisdom they have foolishly imagined they could sup- 
plant by their impertinent folly. 

Do any feel within themselves that they lack the 
moral power to withstand the allurements which are 
presented by their companions as they associate with 
them from time to time, and urge them to actions 
which they have reason to think will interfere with 
their duty, or by fostering in their minds a love for 
pleasures which are at variance with the holiness and 
purity of the gospel? Let them earnestly seek the 
assistance of the Holy Spirit to aid them in overcoming 
these temptations, lest they, like Adam, find that what 
they anticipated would afford them delight, after the 
short gratification of a few hours, turns upon them 
with remorseful upbraidings, which w T ill embitter all 
their reflecting hours. 

If any imagine that they can be successful in evad- 
ing God's threatened punishments, by pleading as au 
excuse for the short-comings, that they were led into 
sin by the enticements of friends, or the influences 



12 EVE AND ADAM. 

which surrounded them; let them consider that God 
did not, in the case of our first father, hold such an 
excuse to be a sufficient one to exonerate him from 
blame, but visited upon him, not only the punishment 
of toil and labor for procuring bread and the temporal 
death of his body, but, unless he repented and had 
faith in that Seed of the woman who was to bruise 
serpent's head, will be visited with spiritual death at 
the day of judgment — which the scriptures represent to 
be " everlasting punishment" and "everlasting de- 
struction from the presence of the Lord." 

St. James said that if you " resist the devil he will 
flee from you," which you can do by the aid of the 
Holy Ghost, which will be given all who earnestly ask 
for it, and if you continue faithful unto death, you 
may at last be freely admitted to joys such as the 
human eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have 
entered into the heart of the man to conceive — the 
things that God hath prepared for those that love Him 
— even Life Eternal. 



ARTICLE II. 



Cain. — Gen. iv. 

THE account of the first person born on the earth — 
the second man of its inhabitants, is very meagre, but 
enough is given to indicate that he must have become 
intoxicated ; but by what means we can only conjecture. 
The first conjecture I make is that he was intoxicated 
by a false idea of his own importance, which was fos- 
tered by the treatment he received from his parents. 
It is noted that the great thought of his mother on the 
occasion of his birth was, that he was a gift from the 
Lord, and no doubt he was cherished as a most precious 
treasure, his parents making constant efforts to gratify 
every whim which his infantile, childish or youthful 
fancy conceived, which probably had the effect to create 
and confirm in his mind the idea that he was the most 
important person on the earth. And further to confirm 
this idea in Cain's mind, we find that on the birth of 
Abel, the parents thought so little of their second gift 
from the Lord, that they gave him a name which signi- 
fied vanity, or a breath or vapor — and the reason may 
have been that he was a fragile infant, — not at all like 
the robust child — their eldest son, and they had little 
hope of his becoming anything that they would ever be 
proud of or receive pleasure from ; and so in their treat- 
ment of the two brothers they made such a distinction 
between them as to make Cain feel that his pleasure 
was the main thing to be considered, and felt warranted 
in claiming and exercising that superiority which both 
his age and strength enabled him to enforce. And in 
his mature years we may suppose that he continued to 



14 CAIN. 

act on that principle in his dealings with his brother. 
This was, probably, the origin of the idea of the privi- 
leges of primogeniture ; and by the 7th verse this prin- 
ciple seems to have been approved by the Lord, as Cain 
was plainly given authority over Abel, and was only 
blamed for the manner in which he exercised it. The 
brothers, it may be supposed, were trained up to wor- 
ship God, as it appears to have been from a habit that 
they made the offerings hereafter alluded to, which 
were not the first sacrifices they had offered. 

After living together for 127 years, in more or less of 
social intercourse, each in his particular department of 
labor — Cain in tilling the ground and Abel in keeping 
sheep — the conduct of Cain became so offensive to God 
that He would not accept his sacrifice, and from that 
circumstance arose that envious hate which resulted in 
the first murder and the first martyrdom of the world. 

We may further imagine that the old tempter of Eve 
and Adam had not a little to do with this affair, and 
that his suggestions and enticements, not only to the 
parents that they need not be very strict with such 
young children, but also to Cain, which added to the 
natural and acquired habit of domineering over his 
brother, at last made successful the commission of this 
first fratricide. 

Another conjecture may be hazarded. Although 
nothing is related in the scriptures to warrant a definite 
assertion of it as a fact, yet it does not appear unlikely 
that, in all those years, Cain might have discovered that 
the juices of the different fruits, when freed from the 
pulp made palatable drinks ; that after remaining awhile 
became acrid, which, though at first not agreeable to his 
taste, in time, after many trials, at length became pleas- 
ant to him ; and after a wearying time of labor afforded 
a reviving and stimulating draught, which produced in 



CAIN. 15 

him a similar condition to the modern and more com- 
mon kind of intoxication. Certainly there was much 
in his conduct and conversation which resemble the act- 
ions and words of a modern drunkard. But, however 
that may have been, it is very clear that he did what he 
would not have done, had he not in some way lost that 
control over himself that a virtuous man of mature age 
and experience may be expected to exercise — notice how 
he lied ; how he imagined many sorts of troubles that 
he apprended would befall him ; how he charged the 
Lord with injustice and cruelty ; and eventually left 
the scene of his great crime in order to escape the con- 
tinual reminder of his sins, and engaged in an enter- 
prise which he doubtless intended to commemorate his 
own life on the earth, though he was wise enough to 
give it the name of his son rather than his own, which 
has ever since been regarded as a synonym for an over- 
bearing, wicked and murderous character. 

Of the children of Cain we have but little account in 
the first few generations, but we may suppose that they 
copied the example of the first murderer by allowing 
nothing but lack of power to stand between them and 
their wishes — each one ignoring all law and right, with- 
out regard to the wishes or welfare of others. We 
find the leading descendant of the sixth generation 
declaring that " if Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, 
truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold," [Gen. iv, 24,] 
which may indicate that he was of a revengeful dispo- 
sition, and disposed to revenge himself to the greatest 
extent possible for any injury he might receive from 
others. 

About 1,500 years later it is related that " the wicked- 
ness of man ivas great on the earth, and that every imag- 
ination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil contin- 
ually," [Gen. vi, 51; and for that reason God caused a 



16 CAIN. 

flood which destroyed not only all of Cain's descendants, 
but all others who had been corrupted by their influ- 
ence, so that only the family of Noah was worthy of 
of being preserved. 

Cannot the readers who are parents find in the events 
above referred to, a lesson on the importance of training 
their children in such a way that they will not think 
of themselves "more highly than they ought to think?" 
[Rom. xii, 3.] 

See another case: I. Sam. iii, 11 — 14; iv, 17 — 21. 

And all who do not restrain their passions or indulge 
in an over-bearing behavior towards their associates, 
may find in this case a warning that they will be wise to 
heed, lest they, to use the very expressive simile of the 
scriptures, "Sow to the wind and reap the whirlwind. 7 ' 
[Hosea viii, 7.] 

The history of Saul, the first king of Israel, gives a 
pertinent example of the danger of cherishing such a 
habit of mind. [See references at end of Article xvii. 



ARTICLE III. 



The Sons of God. — Gen. vi. 

THE 1st and 2d verses of this chapter state that "when 
men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and 
daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God 
saw the daughters of men, that they were fair, and they 
took them wives of all which they chose." 

By men, in the 1st verse, is understood the descend- 
ants of Cain, who were brought up without religious 
training, and lived only for the world, and by the sons 
of God the descendants of Seth, who were religiously 
educated, and probably in some way brought into cov- 
enant relations with their Creator. 

We may conclude that there were also daughters of God, 
who were more faithful in following the religious instruc- 
tions of their parents than were the sons, even as it has 
been ever since ; that they were quiet, sedate and mod- 
est in their deportment, looking upon the affairs of this 
life as the events of a passage through a country to a 
better home ; and, perhaps, each one striving to make 
herself worthy of being the mother of the promised 
11 seed of the woman" who should bruise the serpent's 
head. 

But there were other women who behaved quite dif- 
ferently — who were active, lively and beautiful in forms 
and features, and every way calculated to produce a 
pleasing impression upon their youthful beholders. 
They were the daughters of men, who had not been 
instructed in religion, and were therefore only concerned 
about the affairs of this world — how to make a show 
and gain applause; how to win the affections of the 



18 THE SONS OF GOD. 

opposite sex by arts and stratagems which should con- 
ceal the real sentiments of their hearts and the caprices 
of their conduct. 

We may suppose that the descendants of Seth, during 
the first ages, were in the habit of being governed by 
the advice of their parents in all matters of importance 
— and the choice of a wife w r as then, as it should always 
be, regarded as the most important event of a man's 
worldly interests. [See Abraham's action in the matter 
of a wife for his son Isaac ; and notice also the commands 
of God to parents in regard to their children's marriages. 
— Gen. xxiv, and Deut. vii, 3, 4.] 

But in the progress of some 400 years, the young men 
began to imagine that they might safely choose for 
themselves, without consulting their parents, and so 
they "took them wives of all which they chose," from 
these irreligious, vain and crafty girls, thinking, perhaps, 
that they could, by their influence and authority over 
them, be able to induce them to love and obey the Lord ; 
but they seem to have failed, if they had such ideas, for 
the balance of the influence was the other way — the 
young women were able to so influence their husbands, 
that they thoughtless of their religious duties and were 
less careful to train their children in the fear of the Lord. 
Evil spirits were busy on both sides — on the daughters 
of men to aid them in the practice of their arts to fascinate 
the young men, and on the sons of God to induce them 
to think that their parents had been too strict in their 
teachings and requirements ; and so the chances were 
small that they would be able to maintain their relig- 
ious character — thus they were exposed to assaults both 
in front and rear, which is as perilous a position for reli- 
gious warriors, as for soldiers in earthly contests. 

The 4th verse mentions two facts, one that "there 
were giants in the earth in those days." The most nat- 



THE SONS OF GOD. 19 

ural idea of this phrase is that they were men of extra- 
ordinarily large stature — whether such personages were 
then more common than they are now may be left to 
conjecture. In the opinion of some, they were not only 
great in their bodily development, but also great in 
wickedness — making great sensations by their cruel and 
impious exploits, and it may be that, from that source 
the childish idea of the later generations was derived, 
that giants were always cruel and blood-thirsty canni- 
bals, whose presence was dreaded as much as the most 
ferocious and powerful wild beasts. The other fact, that 
the children of the sons of God by the daughters of men 
became u mighty men," and " men of renown." I imag- 
ine that, at that period much attention was given to the 
cultivation of the physical powers, and that the might 
and renown was somewhat like that which worldly peo- 
ple in these days accord to the pugilists, prize-fighters 
and pedestrians whose feats are chronicled with so much 
particularity by the secular newspapers, and read with 
such apparent interest by certain classes of our people. 

But this state of things could not always last under 
such a Governor as the God of the Universe is repre- 
sented to be in the bible, though He waited a hundred 
and twenty years before He executed the judgment upon 
them by the flood, which destroyed them all except the 
faithful Noah and his family. 

The consideration of this subject in the light of the 
facts mentioned in the passages referred to, should teach 
young men the impolicy of making a choice of wives 
from those whose characters are not pure, and their 
€onduct trifling and vain ; and young women the fear- 
ful risks they incur by accepting as husbands young 
men who are wanting in their duty to God or their fel- 
lowmen. Mere worldly riches and honors can never 
secure happiness in conjugal relations, and this fact is 



20 THE SONS OF GOD. 

attested by the numerous applications for divorces which 
are made in this country. No man or woman is fully 
prepared to take upon themselves the duties of the mar- 
riage relation until they have become, in all sincerity 
children of God. The christian rule is : " Be ye not 
unequally yoked with unbelievers. 77 [II. Cor. vi, 14.] 

Another notable case was that of King Solomon, who 
in his prime indulged his fancies to the fullest extent ; 
but who, in his old age wrote the results of his experi- 
ence in those particulars in the 2d chapter of Ecclesiastes. 



ARTICLE IV. 



Noah.— Gen. vi, 8, 9, and ix, 20—27. 

BEFORE coming to the chief incident upon which I 
design mainly to write, I think it proper to recall to 
the reader the character of the man whose conduct is 
the theme of this article. 

The 8th verse states that " Noah found grace in the 
eyes of the Lord." This expression seems to indicate 
that Noah was not an absolutely sinless man, but that 
he w r as so much imbued with human infirmity that he 
needed God's grace in order to make it consistent with 
the absolute purity and holiness of God's character, to 
regard him with complacence. But Noah w r as so 
earnest in his endeavors to overcome his imperfections, 
and was so resolute in withstanding the wicked in- 
fluences that surrounded him, and so bold in reproving 
the ungodly deeds that he saw T committed, and so faith- 
ful in warning his neighbors, and probably all with 
whom he had opportunity, of the fearful punishment 
impending over them unless they repented, and very 
likely, so humble and trustful in God's plan of over- 
coming the wiles of Satan that he was regarded by the 
Lord with favor. The phrase " perfect in his genera- 
tions " may mean that, as compared with the others of 
his generation, he was so good that his imperfections 
were passed over. He endeavored to avoid everything 
sinful both in thought, word and deed, though, when 
withstanding the scoffs of his neighbors and the sight 
of their sinful doings, he must have given way to 
thoughts, if not to words and actions which showed 
that his soul ^\as vexed at their wicked deeds, and indi- 



22 NOAH. 

cated that he lacked that full confidence in God, which 
is an important attribute of a perfectly holy man. The 
phrase " Noah walked with God " in the 9th verse 
probably means that he was careful to regulate his life 
agreeably to God's will, and that he sought to learn 
that will by much meditation and prayer, and we 
have evidence that God approved and answered his 
prayer. 

The 20th verse of the 9th chapter states that " Noah 
began to be a husbandman." For the last hundred 
years he had been so busy in building the ark that he 
had little time to attend to the cultivation of the 
ground, and probably lived on such fruits as grew 
without cultivation, and the milk and the flesh of 
animals. But now he had leisure to do something in 
the way of cultivating crops (and, perhaps the climate 
on the mountains of Ararat was such that cultivation 
was necessary to secure sufficient supply of food.) At 
any rate it may be fairly supposed that he saw that it 
was important both for their happiness and integrity, 
that he and his sons should be employed in some useful 
occupation; and it may be stated that the lack of a 
necessity for a moderate amount of labor may have 
been one great cause of the wickedness before the flood. 
It appears that, besides the cultivation of the crops 
needed for food, he also planted a vineyard. The 21st 
verse contains the first statement of the manufacture of 
wine, but does not speak of it in such a way as to in- 
dicate that it was a new discovery. The latter part of 
the verse shows that Noah had not been accustomed to 
its use. I am inclined to think that in planting the 
vineyard, the making of wine and in using it, he was 
only trying experiments; and we may suppose that 
the last experiment was never repeated by him. Con- 
sidering the circumstances, we may not blame Noah 



NOAH. 23 

in this affair; but there are some further circumstances 
about the case which should be studied with care. 

The honor and respect paid to parents has been, in 
all ages, a distinguishing mark of the good; next in 
importance to our duty to our Creator, is our duty to 
our father and mother, and no doubt Noah had care- 
fully trained his children in a proper reverence for 
their superiors, and was not disposed to overlook any 
want of a proper respect on their part, toward God or 
himself or his wife, and when so flagrant an act of dis- 
respect as is related in the 22d verse, was brought 
clearly to his attention, his sense of duty to his sons 
made him resolve to do what he could to prevent a 
repetition of the act, therefore, he, after having as- 
certained all the circumstances, pronounced the curse 
and the blessings related in the 25th, 26th and 27th 
verses. And we may say that the curse was not pro- 
nounced because it was the real desire of Noah that 
Canaan should suffer undue punishment, but he saw 
that the tendency of the act, if left unrebuked, would 
be that his descendants would relapse into the wicked 
habits which had prevailed before the flood, and for that 
reason he felt it his duty to manifest his displeasure. 

It will be perceived that the act which is mentioned 
as displeasing Noah was performed by Ham, and that 
the curse was pronounced upon Canaan, who was 
Ham's youngest son ; he in the 24th verse is styled 
Noah's younger son, from which it may be inferred 
that Moses considered grandchildren as also the chil- 
dren of a man. [See Gen. xxi, 43.] Ham was Noah's 
second son — at least it may be so inferred from the 
order in which their names are mentioned. I am in- 
clined to believe that Canaan first made the discovery 
and told his father, when Ham, instead of showing the 
respect that his brothers did to Noah went and saw his 



24 NOAH. 

naKedness and reported it to Shem and Japhet in a 
sportive way, and thus incurred the just displeasure of 
the greatest man upon the earth at that time. 

It may be considered a, question whether Noah's 
declarations in the 25th, 26th and 27th verses are a 
prophecj^ or only a sentence which he pronounced as 
his decision of what the sin deserved; and also, whether 
God carried out the sentence in the further ordering of 
His providence. I believe that nothing further is 
recorded of the after history of Canaan except the 
naming of his descendants And it also may be con- 
sidered a question whether the curse pronounced 
against Canaan was intended to be visited upon his 
descendants. Canaan's decendants settled in Palestine, 
and were powerful arid wicked peoples when the 
Israelites destroyed them, excepting the inhabitants of 
Gibeon, who by craft secured a league by which their 
lives were spared; but for their deception were made 
hewers of wood and drawers of water to the congrega- 
tion. [See Josh. chap, ix.] And other descendants of 
Ham, who settled in Egypt, became a very learned and 
prosperous people, who made slaves of the Children of 
Israel. I am inclined to think that the curse related 
only to Canaan himself. The later generations of the 
Canaanites were punished for their own sins; and the 
blessings were for Shem and Japhet themselves and 
their descendants who were virtuous, but were for- 
feited by those who were vicious. 

The great sin brought to view in this article is the 
dishonoring of parents, and the lesson to be enforced 
from it is one which there seems to be great need of 
heeding in these later times ; and I would endeavor to 
impress upon the minds of all children of religious 
parents the duty of regulating their lives by the in- 
structions which they receive from their fathers and 



NOAH. 25 

mothers, and in general of all parents whose com- 
mands do not contravene the laws of God. 

Another scriptural case of dishonoring parents is 
found in the account of Absalom, recorded in the xv, 
xvi, xvii and xviii chapters of 2d Samuel. 

Christ's instructions on the subject of honoring 
parents may be learned from Matthew xv, 5 — 7. 



ARTICLE V. 



Inhabitants of a Plain in Shinar. — Genesis xi, 1 — 9. 

AMONG the many emotions which disturb the minds 
of the people of the earth, there is, perhaps, none more 
prevalent than that of discontent with present circum- 
stances, and one which Christians are exhorted against 
when they are taught that they should " be contented 
and do their duty in that state of life in which it 
pleases God to call" them; and which St. Paul de- 
clared that he had learned, though he was naturally of 
a very impetuous disposition, [See Phil, iv, 11 — 12.] 
With the majority of people this feeling is so overpow- 
ering that they cannot really enjoy their present com- 
forts, because some fancied pleasures are beyond their 
reach, or through fear that the blessings which are 
present will not be continued to them, but be followed 
by less desirable circumstances. It is doubtless true 
that all would be happier, and be able to do more to 
secure the happiness of others, could they banish from 
their minds the fearful anticipations of evil to come, 
which destroy present enjoyments, mar future hopes, 
and are sources of vain desires, which often harass 
them with disappointments. 

The first nine verses of the 11th chapter of Genesis 
contain a remarkable exhibition of this feeling — that 
may be a sort of intoxication. 

The first verse of the passage states that at that time 
(about 100 years after the flood,) " the whole earth was 
of one language," and had the people been content to 
have used it in expressions of gratitude to God, and good 



INHABITANTS OF A PLAIN IN SHINAR. 27 

will to each other, it might have continued to the pres- 
ent time, and thus rendered unnecessary those dreams 
of philologists respecting the perfecting of the lan- 
guages, and ideas of inventing one which all nations 
would be willing to accept and use (discarding their 
ancestral tongues), thus making the spread of light and 
knowledge more rapid and easy. 

But the people of this plain had some new ideas, — 
instead of continuing to cultivate their lands and en- 
joy the fruits, they seemed possessed of a public spirit 
— a desire to do something famous, without reference 
to the will of God, one of their propositions being, in 
fact, an attempt to provide a place of safety in case 
another inundation should be sent upon the earth, 
although God had made a special promise to Noah that 
He would not again destroy tho people of the earth by 
a flood. Under the circumstances the proposition, and 
the actions for carrying it into effect, were nothing 
short of an insult to the Lord. They said : . . . . " let us 
make brick ;" they were not content with ordinary 
wood dwellings, or with sun-dried brick homes, but 
they would have them "burnt thoroughly" so that it 
might be an indestructible material which would be 
less liable to the danger of conflagrations, and would be 
likely to remain for the occupancy of their descendants, 
who would thereby be reminded of what had been 
done for them by their ancestors ; nor were they con- 
tent with the scattered dwellings of agriculturists, but 
wished them built compactly, so that they could have 
the benefit of a society, and an organized system of pro- 
tection against the many dangers which the scattered 
dwellers on farms w T ere liable ; and further, they 
would have a " tower whose top may reach unto heaven" 
— that it might be seen at great distances so as to 
excite the wonder and curiosity of those who should 



28 INHABITANTS OF A PLAIN IN SHINAR. 

come near enough to get a view of its elevated summit, 
and who on coming nearer, would be more and more 
astonished at the magnificent design, the lofty struc- 
ture and the wonderful concentration of labor necessary 
in order to accomplish such a vast enterprise, — and 
then, when the pilgrims should return to their own 
homes, they could tell of the great things they had 
seen on a plain in Shinar, and thus the fame of their 
doings would be spread wherever mankind had made 
a habitation — and they would make themselves "a 
name." 

This, they imagined, w r ould prevent them from being 
" scattered abroad from the face of the whole earth." 
But all these plans were conceived and attempted to be 
carried out without reference to the will of the Lord, and, 
as we have noticed before, in a distrust of His promise, 
and in this fact we see a reason for His interfering to pun- 
ish their impiety by disappointing their ambition, and 
exhibiting His power to frustrate their schemes — or, 
perhaps, He only withheld His providential assistance 
to keep them in the normal use of their faculties, mak- 
ing them like a community of lunatics, unable to un- 
derstand each other, or to form any feasible plans for 
the prosecution of their public interests. And " thus 
the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the 
face of the earth." 

What might be said of the future history of Babel 
will not be attempted in this article, except to refer the 
reader to the book of Daniel, (chapter i — v,) which re- 
lates the leading events of the last eighty years of the 
Babylonish nation (during the reigns of its two last 
kings,) and proves that the same proud and impious 
spirit actuated the descendants of those people of the 
plain of Shinar who remained in the place where the 
confusion of language occurred, as shown by their an- 



INHABITANTS OF A PLAIN IN SHINAR. 29 

cestors 1/700 years before, and also tells the different 
ways in which the Lord punished their impiety. 

We are taught by the incidents related in this his- 
tory, that it is unwise to form plans and attempt to 
carry them out, which ignore the overruling provid- 
ence of God, or which imply a distrust in His prom- 
ises; and they are wisest who choose as the rule of 
their conduct the revealed will of the Lord. 

To the young I would particularly recommend to be 
guided by the advice of their religious elders, whose 
experience and judgment qualify them to give direct- 
ion to the inexperienced. 

I close this article by advising all " who profess and 
call themselves christians," that they, in all the vicissi- 
tudes of life, seek through prayer the direction of the 
Holy Spirit, as the best means by which they can ex- 
pect to be guided into the most important truths, and 
thus learn by experience the way of true happiness 
and prosperity. 



ARTICLE VI. 



Abram — Gen. xii, 11 — 20. 

IN the 31st verse of the 11th chapter of Genesis is the 
first mention of Abram, who afterwards became the 
most famous religious man the civilized world has ever 
known; and although I mainly design in this article to 
notice an indiscreet act, on his part, (which indicates that 
we are not to expect to find " a just man upon earth, that 
doeth good and sinneth not/' — Eccl. vii, 20), yet it may 
be profitable to bear in mind some of the incidents of 
his life previous to the events to which I particularly 
invite the readers 7 consideration. In this passage it is 
stated that, though a married man, he was still a mem- 
ber of his father's family, and under that parent's 
control, until Terah's death, as mentioned in the next 
verse. 

After his father's death Abram received a communi- 
cation from the Lord directing him to leave the place 
where he was dwelling and go to a land which would 
be shown him, and God gave him great promises, 
which were to be fulfilled to his descendants mainly, 
though he himself was to receive abundant blessings, 
among which was the very satisfactory one that he 
should " be a blessing " to others, even to " all the fami- 
lies of the earth." [See chap, xii, 1 — 3.] 

Abram, agreeable to this command and with faith in 
these promises, departed out of Haran, and when he 
and his family had reached Canaan and passed through 
considerable portions of it, the Lord made known to 
him that that was the land which he had given to his 
" seed "; and in token of his acquiescence in this 



ABKAM. 31 

decision Abram built an altar unto the Lord, and that 
appears to have been his usual practice wherever he 
sojourned. [See verses 5 — 9.] 

The 10th verse mentions that a grievous famine 
afflicted the land, and that, for that reason he went 
down into Egypt to remain there until better times 
should come, no doubt intending to return when fruit- 
ful seasons should again be restored. It may be 
properly supposed that this famine was visited upon 
the land as a punishment for the wickedness of the 
people thereof, that being one of the ways, which the 
bible declares, that God punishes those who disobey 
His commands. 

I now come to the 11th verse which gives the first 
account of Abram/ s departure from the truth, or rather 
keeping back an important fact, in his dealings with 
the king of Egypt. 

From the fear that the Egyptians would become so 
enamored with the beauty of his wife that they would 
kill him for the sake of obtaining her, he directed her 
to say that she was his sister, and not to tell the further 
important fact that she was his wife. 

Some scholars affirm that, at that time (not far from 
325 years after the confounding of the language at Babel) 
the word sister had a wider signification than we now 
confine it to — the same as Lot was called Abram's 
brother in the xiv c. and 16th v., when he w T as only his 
nephew, according to our reckoning. In the xx c. v. 
12, Abram is represented as saying that Sarah was the 
daughter of his father, but not the daughter of his 
mother, possibly meaning that she was the grand- 
daughter of his father. In that large sense he may 
'have correctly called her his sister; but in the plot 
which he formed with her, he intended to deceive the 
Egyptians, and that constituted his sin. 



32 ABRAM. 

The 14th and 15th verses give the result of the plot 
upon the Egyptians, upon the king's household and 
upon the king. The people admired her, the princes 
praised her, and the king took measures to make her 
his wife ; and on Abram he bestowed favors, giving 
him the means of living in princely style that he 
might be qualified to associate with royalty. But 
trouble came of it ; the Lord would not permit Abram 
to lose his wife in that way, even though it was caused 
by his own fault. The 17th verse states that "the 
Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues 
because of Sarai, Abram's wife.' 7 The reason why 
Pharaoh and his family were punished in this instance, 
instead of Abram is not made known, but we may be 
sure that in some way it was deserved ; and we may 
perceive that the Lord did not visit upon Abram the 
full consequences of his sin, and we will suppose, as 
one reason, that it was because he was really suspicious 
that the Egyptians were so wicked that they would 
not hesitate to take his life if they knew that Sarai was 
his wife. Another reason will be found in the 
promises God had made to Abram which would seem 
to have failed had he been a great sufferer in his inter- 
course with those among whom he sojourned; but had 
he been fully awake to the faithfulness of the Lord to 
the promises he had received, it would have saved him 
from the temptation of resorting to deception to save 
himself from harm. 

The 17th, 18th and 19th verses contain the account 
of the interview between Pharaoh and Abram, in 
which the latter is called to answer for his duplicity. 
He makes no reply, thus seeming to acknowledge his 
guilt, and no doubt felt that he had been unwarrantably 
suspicious of the Egyptians, though there may be rea- 
sons for believing that if they had not suffered punish- 



ABRAM. 33 

merits from God, and had not feared more of them, 
they would not have treated Abram so leniently. 

By the 20th verse we learn that the king sent Abram 
away in a friendly spirit, probably fearing to displease 
one w T ho was so unmistakably under the protection of 
a power above human control. 

The lessons which these incidents should teach the 
people of God is : 1st, that they should be truthful in 
their dealings, and particularly, not to deceive by con- 
cealing any important fact in relation to matters about 
which they are dealing ; 2d, that they should put their 
trust in God amidst all their difficulties, and not doubt 
but that He will make their trials result in their best 
good, if they are truthful, obedient and humble ; 3d, 
that if, through temptation or fear they do come short 
of their duty, God will overlook their short-comings, if 
they truly repent and renew their diligence in striving 
to avoid them in the future; 4th, that they should 
not be censorious or captious when they see failings in 
others, but remember that the best of Christians have 
failings, and when they pray to be delivered from evil, 
let their thoughts especially include all whose sins 
have particularly affected or interested them ; and 5th, 
that they should be careful to avoid all appear- 
ance of evil, lest the opposers of religion find occasion, 
through the unfaithfulness or timidity of their lives, 
to speak against the cause of Christ, and so endanger 
their own souls and the souls of those who are under 
their influence. 

For other cases mentioned in the Bible of the same 
fault, see chap, xx, where Abram committed it again, 
under similar circumstances, with similar results; also 
chap, xxvi, 7 — 11 verses, tells how Isaac did the same 
thing at Gerah, and for the same reason. 

St. Paul very forcibly teaches what should be a 



34 ABRAM. 

Christian's course on this point in his epistle to the 
Ephesians, iv, 14, 15; "That we henceforth be no more 
children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with 
every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cun- 
ning craftiness, whereby they lay in wait to deceive ; 
but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him 
in all things, which is the head, even Christ." 



ARTICLE VII. 



Lot. — Genesis xiii, 8 — 13 ; xiv, 8 — 16 ; xix, 1 — 26. 

LOT and Abram were both good men, and in the best 
sense of the word " gentlemen/ 7 who wished to be at 
peace with each other, and have all about them peace- 
ful. But their flocks and herds were so great, which 
required so many employes to look to and manage, and 
the conflicting interests of the two masters, were taken 
so much to heart by the two sets of herdmen, that 
they could not well avoid contention, so that Abram 
made the proposition that they should separate, and 
gave to Lot his choice of the way he would go, while 
Abram w T ould take the opposite direction. It does not 
appear that Lot had any hesitation as to his choice, or 
that he asked Abram's advice, but that he was only 
guided by what appeared to be most for his worldly 
advantage, seeming to ignore the possibility that there 
might be something in the character and habits of the 
people of the place where he should locate which 
would render them undesirable neighbors. Whether 
Lot understood the character of the people of Sodom 
before he went there may be doubted, but he soon had 
an experience, which must have convinced him that he 
had made a serious mistake, for there appeared armed 
hosts in the vicinity of Sodom, who made the possess- 
ion of life and property very precarious, — the forces of 
nine kings were joined in battle, and the city of Sodom 
captured, its goods and provisions taken, and Lot was 
taken captive, and would probably have been made a 
slave had not Abram by remarkable acts of strategy 
delivered him and recaptured the goods of Sodom. 



36 LOT. 

For the space of nine years the book of Genesis 
relates nothing more of Lot ; but St. Peter [II Pet. ii, 7, 
8,) says that just Lot was " vexed with the filthy con- 
versation of the wicked ; for that righteous man dwell- 
ing among them, [the people at Sodom] in seeing and 
hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with 
their unlawful deeds." Why he should have remained 
among such people is most easily explained by imagin- 
ing that he had a missionary spirit which moved him 
to labor and hope that he might prevail upon those 
wicked people to change their vile courses of life and 
become obedient to the laws of God. But we have no 
evidence that he met with any success in such efforts 
— there does not appear to have been one righteous 
man besides Lot, for had there been any, it was most 
probable that they would have escaped with him. 

In pursuing the history of Lot, we learn by the 19th 
chapter that one evening two angels approached the 
gate of Sodom, where Lot was sitting, and, as was 
probably his custom when strangers of gentle-seeming 
came near him, he rose to meet them and offered them 
the hospitalities of his house, which they at first de- 
clined, but finally accepted, after which their host pre- 
pared for them a sumptuous feast of which they par- 
took. On observing the unusual festivity in Lot's 
house, his wicked neighbors, suspicious of something 
that might occur from the interviews of the strangers 
with their reprover, or, perhaps chagrined because 
they had not been invited to share the feast, sur- 
rounded the house and demanded that Lot should 
bring out his guests to them that they might ascertain 
who they were and what w T as the reason of their visit ; 
and w T hen their demand was denied by Lot, who re- 
monstrated with them for their incivility, they made 
riotous demonstrations which they were only prevented 



LOT. 37 

from carrying into effect by a miraculous interposition 
in behalf of Lot and his family. 

The next morning the angels hurried Lot and his 
family away from Sodom, and guided them to a place 
of safety (except Lot's wife, viho by disobeying the 
orders of the rescuers, w T as changed into a pillar of salt.) 
But after the terrible destruction of the cities of the 
plain Lot was afraid to remain even in Zoar, choosing 
rather to brave the dangers of the mountain than to 
remain among the wicked people of that little city. 
And so he, with his tw>o daughters, dw r elt in a cave in 
the mountain, with but a precarious supply of food and 
only such conveniences for comfort as they had been 
able to bring w 7 ith them by hand. It must have 
seemed to him a very sorry change ; for he had been 
accustomed for many years, with his numerous flocks 
and herds, to generous supplies of the delicacies of that 
generation. But this was not the worst of it. 

Instead of being able to reform any of the inhabit- 
ants of Sodom, the inroads of wickedness w^ere made 
upon Lot's family ; some of his daughters had married 
inhabitants of the city and were, doubtless, partakers 
of the wickedness as w r ell as sharers in its destruction ; 
and even his wife's fate was scarcely less severe. 

It may be profitable to inquire the cause of this 
wickedness of the people of the plain. The account 
informs us that it was a very fertile country, and those 
wiio lived there could gain a subsistence with little 
labor or care, and therefore had much leisure; and 
when such is the case the natural tendency of mankind 
is to corrupt each other by vain and sinful amusements 
w^hich low r er the standard of morality and virtue, un- 
less counteracted by a preponderating religious or 
moral influence, which Lot in his destitution of relig- 
ious sympathy could not furnish, though had he had 



38 LOT. 

the assistance of ten righteous men, they possibly 
might have been able to withstand the current of evil 
and made progress in saving some of the people from 
the prevailing vices; at least they would have secured 
a further time of probation for their fellow citizens. 

It is better for the morals and manners of a com- 
munity that its individuals should be under the 
necessity of spending the most part of each day in 
some regular employment — something besides mere 
pass-time — something permanently useful to them- 
selves or others. And therefore it is, that among 
those peoples whose necessities are supplied by a small 
amount of care and labor, their mental faculties are 
dwarfed, and their bodies enervated, and their social 
condition but little better than that of brutes. 

I add other paragraphs, which are written from the 
stand-point of a conservative New Englander, who 
never was afflicted with the Western fever, but, whose 
family being scattered, is making a several month's 
visit to the family of a daughter who has been a resi- 
dent of the West more than a score of years. I doubt 
the wisdom, in many cases, of persons who have left a 
comfortable property in the East and came West. 
They may have improved their worldly circumstances, 
been able to live with less labor, and indulge them- 
selves and families with more luxuries; but this tem- 
poral improvement has been accompanied by influ- 
ences tending to make them think less of those moral 
and religious truths and duties which are the founda- 
tions of a happy and prosperous condition in a com- 
munity, and also foster in their minds a love for 
amusements which are of a questionable character, 
thus undermining that religious sense which w T ould 
lead them to take delight in the ways of God's com- 
mandments and in seeking his blessing, without which 



LOT. 39 

worldly riches will be likely to prove a curse which 
will grow heavier as the generations pass, till they end 
in a state of society as much to be deplored as was that 
of Sodom in the days of Lot. And some, too, who 
were not possessors of real estate or the proprietors of a 
flourishing business might with prudence have re- 
mained in the East, and w 7 orked themselves gradually 
to a competence, instead of leaving their parents in 
loneliness in their old age to long for their cherished 
one, or give up their old home and follow a son or a 
daughter to new scenes that would be likely to impair 
their quiet and comfort in their declining years '; they 
may not have so quickly attained that competence, and 
probably would never have been subjected to the 
dangers and responsibilities of the rich, but they might 
have as effectually served their generation, enjoyed the 
comforts of this life and secured God's favor, and so 
have been prepared to enter and enjoy the rest that 
remaineth for the people of God, in Paradise, after the 
struggles and trials of this transient life are over. 
The effect of the free emigration from the Eastern 
States has been to retard their progress in becoming 
what the pioneers in those parts hoped and labored for 
— a cultivated, comfortable and conscientious people. 
Particularly in the agricultural districts, where small 
farmers having sold out to large farmers, have left a 
decreasing population, so that the poorer people have 
not so good a chance for the education of their children 
as was enjoyed a generation ago ; Christian churches 
have died out, or continue in a feeble and discouraged 
condition, giving reasons for sad forebodings as to the 
future ; and all kinds of business has become dull 
from scarcity of well-to-do people to exchange labor 
and products with each other. It is not quite so bad 
in the larger towns and villages, but even there busi- 



40 LOT. 

ness is less thriving than it would have been had an 
energetic class of farmers continued to cultivate and 
improve their small farms as. they might have done, 
thus giving patronage to various mechanics who would 
have been encouraged to remain and help on the gen- 
eral prosperity. 

May not the people of the Near- West make some 
profitable use of these thoughts when the idea comes 
to them of going to the Far- West; as I perceive indi- 
cations that a spirit of discontent with present pros- 
pects is at work in the minds of some of its people, 
which may result in an emigration from the deterior- 
ated and high-priced lands of this region to the fresh 
and cheap lands of the newer settlements, and thus 
re-enact in some degree that condition of things which 
has kept the New England States from the full 
realization of what they might have been had a fair 
proportion of her young people remained to improve 
her farms, and become the fathers and mothers of 
moral and religious descendants, whose rules of life 
were drawn from the bible, and whose chief object 
would have been ht to glorify God and enjoy Him for- 
ever. 7 ' 

I do not expect that all the children of a large family 
will remain at or near the old homestead, though there 
are but few parents but would be gratified to have 
their children settle near them; but I think it not too 
much to hope that at least one of a christian family of 
children should consider it a religious duty to remain 
in the locality hallowed by their birth and early ex- 
periences; and if done with the motive of cheering 
and comforting their parents in their declining years, 
I doubt not that the blessing of God would attend such 
a course ; and with such a plan carried out, no portion 
of our country that has a healthy climate, would fall 



LOT. 41 

into decay, but would gradually improve, both tempor- 
ally and spiritually, till it would be recognized as like 
unto the " garden of the Lord/' 

In these thoughts I have not lost sight of the fact 
that God calls some of his children to preach the gos- 
pel, and others by some strong bent of inclination or 
genius, to a different course of life from that of their 
parents; but in such cases I should hope that their 
motives would be free from selfish ambitions, and 
prompted by a sense of duty to God, remembering the 
truth which St. Paul taught the Corinthians, that "the 
things which are seen are temporal; but the things 
which are not seen are eternal." [II Cor. iv, 18] ; and 
do not forget the instruction which Jesus gave to his 
disciples [Matt, vi, 33] : " Seek ye first the kingdom of 
God and His righteousness and all these things [food, 
drink and clothing] shall be added unto you." 

Not only has this vast emigration been bad for the 
Eastern States, but has been so for the Nation. First, 
by encouraging a spirit of speculation, or a disposition 
to gain sudden wealth by means of buying large tracts 
of land, and then by holding them for a great advance 
in price, and by skillful management gain riches with- 
out earning them ; and in doing this they stood in the 
way of actual settlers gaining homesteads in desirable 
locations, obliging them to go farther into the unex- 
plored territory, while at the same time, in most cases, 
these operations tended to lower the morals of the 
speculators, if not peril their souls. Second, by giving 
strong inducements to reckless individuals to violate 
the laws which were intended to secure the faithful 
performance of the terms of our treaties with the 
Indians, which has offended these aboriginal owners of 
the country, giving them just cause for their hostilities 
against those who had the temerity to infringe upon 



42 LOT. 

the rights which had been promised them by solemn 
treaties, which infringements have been the cause of 
numerous wars that have cost the nation untold treasure, 
great hardships and unnumbered lives; and has also 
retarded the civilization and christianization of the 
Indian people ; besides being the occasion of the laps- 
ing into almost the condition of barbarism, of numer- 
ous descendants of European races. 



AN EXPLANATION. 



I omit a discussion of Abraham's second dissimulation 
respecting Sarah's relation to him (the names of Abram 
and Sarai having both been changed,) contained in the 
20th chapter of Genesis, verses 2 — 18, only remarking 
that the repeating of the prevarication, by so good a 
man, when he had been so emphatically reproved over 
20 years before, may be explained by considering that 
the circumstances of the occasion may have been of a 
nature to appear more threatening than those of the 
first occasion ; and that, possibly, may have been the 
cause of his second attempt to deceive. By these inci- 
dents in the life of the man who became one of the 
most celebrated characters among those whose lives are- 
recorded in the bible, (excepting Jesus of Nazareth,) as 
well as a similar incident in the life of his son Isaac, 
of whom the fewest imperfections are mentioned of any 
human biblical character, (Gen. xxvi, 7 — 11,) we are 
led to the belief that no descendant of the first Adam 
ever has or ever will attain perfection in this life, and 
can, therefore, be admitted to the holy society of the 
heavenly state only through the merits of the second 
Adam, and by the help of the Holy Ghost. 



ARTICLE VIII 



Lot and His Daughters. — Gen. xix, 30 — 38. 

IN the passage noted above we have an account of cir- 
cumstances attending a case of intoxication, which is 
regarded, evfcn by those who are disposed to look upon 
drunkenness as a sin of light degree, as one of peculiar 
guilt, not indeed as rendering the drunken person guilty, 
but as making him an object of pity — but they who by 
wiles accomplish that object deserve reprobation. And 
when persons are enticed by stratagem to submit to be 
brought to such a state of insensibility that they are 
unaware of what they do or what is done with them, 
we can scarcely blame them ; and yet we cannot but 
think them censurable for becoming the dupes of the 
designing, who seek by covert means to procure what 
could not be obtained by fair and open dealing. 

The conduct of Lot's daughters in their conspiracy 
against their father, to our ideas and in our times, seems 
very wicked, but to them, in their peculiar circum- 
stances, it may not have appeared so very sinful, though 
they had, doubtless, been instructed that such behavior, 
under ordinary circumstances, was highly improper, as 
may be inferred from the necessity of getting their father 
into a state of mental bewilderment before they could 
hope to succeed in their scheme. As this passage is the 
last historical mention of Lot, it is probable that he died 
soon after, a disappointed man as far as worldly pros- 
perity was concerned ; and it may be doubted whether 
he knew of the disgraceful conduct of his daughters. 

Lest we judge these young women too harshly let us 
endeavor to imagine the peculiar circumstances in which 



44 LOT AND HIS DAUGHTERS. 

they were placed. First, they were women, with the 
natural propensities of that sex, a prominent one of 
which is, when not overshadowed by the delusions of 
irreligious fashions, a desire for children and a delight 
in the care of them. Witness the joy and assiduity 
with which little girls attend upon their dolls, and the 
patience and self-sacrifice they exhibit in caring for a 
real baby, or for their younger brothers and sisters. 
I think it is clearly a divinely appointed destiny for wo- 
men both to bear and care for children, and when these 
functions are performed in accordance with the dictates 
of religion, they are attending to their highest earthly 
duties. Second, consider their issolation ; they believed 
that their father was the only person with whom they 
were ever likely to meet with, and so, as the only means 
by which they could gratify their motherly instincts, 
they had recourse to stratagem ; but in doing this, they 
violated the plainest dictates of filial duty, the precepts 
of religion and the innate modesty of their sex. It 
appears evident, too, from their conduct, that they had 
become contaminated with the vile ideas of the inhab- 
itants of Sodom, and therefore were disposed to look on 
their sinful actions as not so very bad; they regarded 
their father as righteous over-much, and thought his 
teachings too strict, and so cast them aside as the rules 
of their own lives. 

In imagination we may follow them to the results of 
their actions into motherhood. They saw their infant 
children, and doubtless rejoiced in their possession, and 
probably never were so happy as when ministering to 
their infantile wants, and watching the progress of the 
development of their opening faculties and the increase 
of their physical powers. 

But time passed on ; the boys became youths, and 
very probably, as they were the only children of their 



LOT AND HIS DAUGHTERS. 45 

mothers, were very willful, and as children so situated 
are likely to be the ruling members of their families — 
especially if their fathers are not among the number — 
we may readily suppose that the boys were often quar- 
relsome, and the sisters each naturally caring most for 
her own son, they must for that reason, often appeared 
to each other as unfriendly. It may fairly be inferred 
that but a small amount of true enjoyment was the lot 
of the little community. 

And when these youths became men were they a 
source of pleasure ? We may easily suppose that a true 
mother, in no period of her life experiences more satis- 
faction in her own children than when, if they become 
habituated to right principles and conduct, she sees 
them taking their places in the world's activities and 
exhibiting those qualities of mind and heart which she 
has endeavored to foster in them, and habits which show 
that correct principles have taken firm root in their 
characters; and, on the contrary, when a woman of 
devout religious affections sees in the conduct of her 
children when at mature age, evidences that they fear 
not God nor regard man (even to the degree of not hon- 
oring their father and mother,) she cannot but have 
fearful forebodings both for their spiritual and temporal 
welfare. It is morally certain that these daughters of 
Lot could have had little or no satisfaction in the con- 
duct of their sons when they became men ; for judging 
from the character of their descendants we may suppose 
that they were willful and stubborn, caring little for 
their mothers, or for the will of God as it had been 
taught by their grandfather-father Lot. 

The 37th verse states that the eldest woman nan ed 
her son Moab, and that he was the father of the nation 
of the Moabites, whose king 445 years later refused to 
allow r the children of Israel to pass through their country 



46 LOT AND HIS DAUGHTERS. 

on the way to the land of Canaan ; and endeavored 
through the prophet Balaam to bring God's curse upon 
them, but was signally defeated in his attempts; and 
during a long period of the history of Israel the Moab- 
ites were the cause of great afflictions and terrors and 
sins to the chosen people of God, till at last, about 400 
years after their settlement in the land promised to 
Abraham, they were subdued by David. [See Num- 
bers xxiii ; xxiv; xxxi ; and II. Samuel viii, 2. 

The youngest woman's son was named Ben-ammi, 
and his descendants formed the nation of the Ammon- 
ites. They were wicked and idolatrous, and in many 
ways caused trouble and distress to God's people. About 
750 years after the birth of Ben-ammi the Ammonites 
were subdued by Israel's famous general, Jepthah, the 
account of which is given in the 11th chapter of Judges. 

Another case where an attempt was made to secure a 
selfish object and cover a grievous wrong by procuring 
intoxication, was the affair of David with Uriah [see 
II. Sam. xi] ; but the soldierly bearing and patriotic de- 
votion of Uriah frustrated the plan of the king, and he 
was induced to do what in the sight of the Lord was the 
same^as murder, by conspiring for the death of the vet- 
eran soldier, with a view of covering his sin ; but it was 
not covered, as it is still known as the greatest blot on 
the character of that man who in most respects was a 
model of a general and statesman, a poet and devout wor- 
shiper of the true God. But God would not allow his sin 
to go unpunished, therefore the child was not permitted 
to live, but was taken from his gnef-stricken parents; 
and the case yet remains a warning that God will not 
permit, even His most favored servants, to sin against 
Him with impunity. 



ARTICLE IX. 



Esau — Genesis xxv, 29 — 34. 

ISAAC'S eldest son seems to have borne a similar 
relation in his father's family that Cain did in the 
family of Adam — that of an energetic and passionate 
man who was subject to caprices, and also being of a 
wild disposition, which made him rather disagreeable 
to his mother, though his father admired his skill in 
hunting, and probably had great hopes of his future 
success from the energy he displayed in his chosen 
course of life ; but his case, as well as most cases of in- 
dividual history since that time, shows that a predilec- 
tion for the chase is not favorable to the formation of 
a religious character, or a firm and self-reliant disposi- 
tion of any kind; while the wanton cruelty which it 
fosters in the heart is opposed to every humane im- 
pulse of a benevolent mind. And further, the habit of 
relying upon a chance supply of materials for food, 
rather than by prudent forethought and steady labor 
according to a well-considered plan, is conducive to 
vacillating habits both of thought and action, which 
unfit the mind for such consecutive thought as is 
necessary for apprehending religious and moral truths, 
which is an important aid to a proper understanding 
of our duties both to God and man, or for such con- 
stant and well-directed efforts as are likely to be suc- 
cessful in securing temporal comfort and prosperity. 

And it came to pass that, notwithstanding Esau's 
skill in hunting, there was a time when it did not 
avail to supply him with what was necessary to sus- 
tain life, and he returned to the home faint, weary, 
and so disheartened that he thought he was 
about to die. With great importunity he asks his 



48 ESAU. 

brother for some of the red pottage which he had 
been preparing ; but Jacob declined to give it without 
remuneration — something which should compensate 
him for his labor in procuring the materials and pre- 
paring them for use. The vegetable called J entiles is 
supposed to have produced fruit resembling some vari- 
eties of modern beans and peas, therefore from them 
Jacob was able to furnish a very satisfying repast for a 
hungry man, he probably having been accustomed to 
assist his mother in her domestic labors, as she had no 
daughters to take a share in such employments, and it 
was no doubt his helpfulness in this particular which 
made him so much a favorite with Rebecca. 

Jacob, on Esau's request for food, asked his brother 
to sell him his birthright, and Esau seemed to ac- 
quiesce without hesitation. But Jacob was not satisfied 
with a mere casual assent, but required a solemn oath 
on the subject, and the other, with apparently no re- 
flection, gave the asservation demanded, and then par- 
took of the food given him, and thoughtlessly went his 
way, little thinking of the importance of the concession 
he had made to his brother. But pome forty years 
afterwards [see chap, xxvii., v. 34 — 41] he bitterly re- 
gretted his conduct on this occasion, but could get no 
change of his father's decision, and he was so exasper- 
ated at the result that he wickedly contemplated mur- 
dering his brother. 

Many scripture expounders think Jacob was to 
blame for his conduct on this occasion, but, perhaps, 
the most that can be said is that he exhibited a lack of 
brotherly affection. We do not know what provoca- 
tions he may have had. In their childhood and 
youth, probably, they had many disagreements and 
quarrels, owing to their widely differing tempera- 
ments, and in them we may suppose that Esau was 



ESAU. 49 

overbearing and tyrannical, compelling Jacob to give 
up to him on occasions of differences in choice of 
amusements or occupations, and this state of things 
tended to make the younger brother disposed to take 
measures at every convenient opportunity to get an 
advantage of his elder brother. As they were twins 
the difference in their ages was but a trifle, and it must 
have been rather galling to Jacob to be expected to 
give up to one who was so little his senior. It is not 
unlikely, also, that Rebecca may have informed her 
youngest son of the Lord's appointment in regard to 
him [see v. 23,] and as he was at that time between 
thirty and forty years old, he thought it time to claim 
the privileges which that appointment implied, and so 
took this method of getting an acknowledgment of 
them from his elder brother. 

The privileges to which Esau was entitled by reason 
of his being the first-born son were that, on his father's 
death, he would have received a double portion of his 
father's wealth, become the priest of the family, and 
w T hen the descendants of Isaac became numerous, be 
the chief of the tribe ; and if they had become a nation, 
his eldest son or other eldest son of an eldest son would 
have been the king. These were what he sold to Jacob 
for a mess of pottage. 

By the laws of Moses the eldest son was to receive a 
double portion of the estate, and on him devolved the 
duty of maintaining the honor and credit of the family, 
after the father's death, and probably the support of 
the widowed mother or stepmother, if there was one. 

The superiority of position and influence which, in 
most civilized nations, is accorded to the eldest child 
of a family (particularly if a son) finds its reasonable- 
ness in the fact of the superior age and experience of 
the individual so situated, so that next to the parents 



50 ESAU. 

the eldest brother or sister is to be obeyed by the 
minor children of the household. And it may be con- 
sidered a wise rule that the advice and direction of the 
eldest member of a family present at any time should 
be followed by the younger ones. There seems to be a 
natural propriety in the rule, and only extraordinary 
circumstances should reverse its operations. 

The spiritual signification of this passage is very 
plainly alluded to by St. Paul [see Heb. xii., 16, 17] while 
exhorting the Hebrews to peace with all, lest through 
the excitements of contentions about worldly matters 
they come short of that holiness which is necessary to 
see the Lord — apprehend those spiritual truths which 
are only known by the pure in heart. 

Christians' birthrights, to which they are entitled by 
being "born of water and the Spirit,'' are an inheritance 
in heaven-a mansion which "God has prepared for them 
that love Him;" joys " unspeakable and full of glory ;" 
"a crown of glory that fadeth not away;" "eternal life," 
wherein they become "kings and priests unto God." 

But all these privileges those who profess and call 
themselves Christians put in jeopardy, if they allow the 
follies, pleasures or riches of this earthly state to 
hinder them from doing their religious duties to 
God and their fellowmen. And how blind must they 
be to their own best interests who, for the sake of a few 7 
fleeting and unsatisfactory pleasures, neglect to secure 
a title to the Christian's privileges, and so avoid the 
doom of " them that know not God and that obey not 
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." [II Thes. i., 8.] 

The nineteenth chapter of Matthew, 16th — 30th 
verses, gives a case of a young man who chose the 
riches of this world instead of laying up treasures in 
heaven, together with the instructions which our Lord 
gave to his disciples on the occasion. 



ARTICLE X. 



Rebecca and Jacob. — Gen. xxvii. 

ABOUT 45 years after the events referred to in the 
25th chapter, an occasion is found in which the two 
sons of Isaac are again brought to the notice of the 
readers of the book of Genesis. 

Isaac had arrived at an age when he felt that he 
must make preparations for closing his life-work ; and 
as a suitable manner of marking the event, he re- 
quested Esau to prepare him a feast, in the enjoyment 
of which he supposed he would be in a state of mind 
to pronounce a blessing upon him, which he expected 
the Lord would confirm in the future events of the life 
of his eldest son. 

Rebecca, hearing of her husband's directions, and 
fearing that the result of them would bring harm to 
her favorite son, and frustrate the plan which the 
Lord had foretold in regard to the destiny of her 
younger son, resolves to interfere, losing sight of the 
fact that God is able to bring His own purposes into 
effect without the help of His creatures in any acts of 
immorality or disobedience to the rules He has given 
them for their conduct toward each other. 

Jacob appears to have been quite passive in the mat- 
ter ; and although old enough to understand that lying 
and deception were displeasing to God, and also of an 
age at which he would not have been regarded as 
wanting in a proper respect to his mother had he de- 
clined to comply with her advice, he interposed no ob- 
jections on account of the immorality of the proposed 
course of action, though he foresaw difficulties in carry- 



52 UEBECCA AND JACOB. 

ing out the scheme, which he feared would result in 
bringing a curse instead of a blessing. Rebecca de- 
clared herself willing to bear the blame, and proceeded 
to act upon her son's hint, so as to still further deceive 
her husband, by putting pieces of the skins of kids up- 
on his hands and neck, and thus cover up those sources 
of indentification which Jacob was shrewd enough to 
fear, the result of which showed his sagacity and fore- 
thought. 

After making all the preparations which the mother 
and son could devise lor effecting their object, Jacob 
went to his father and offered the food that Rebecca 
had prepared, and w r hen questioned as to who he was, 
told two deliberate lies — first saying that he was Esau, 
and second that he had done as Isaac had bidden him. 
And when further questioned as to how he had found 
it so soon, told the third lie by declaring that the Lord 
had brought it to him, which was a very irreverent and 
seemingly unnecessary reference to the Diety, though 
it may, in Jacob's confusion at the unexpected ques- 
tion, have appeared to him as necessary in order 
to stop further questions, to make a reference to the 
divine being; or, perhaps, it was a custom in Isaac's 
family, to acknowledge the hand of God in the com- 
mon events of life, and so from the force of habit 
Jacob made the assertion without serious thought, in 
which case the flagrancy of the sin may have been 
mitigated though not excused. But the father was 
not satisfied with his son's words, even though they 
were accompanied by a reference to the Diety, so he 
required him to come near that he might feel him 
and apply to him a further test of his identity, 
which when he had tried, confessed the belief that 
the story was true. Though evidently not fully satis- 
fied in his own mind, yet he decides to proceed with 



REBECCA AND JACOB. 53 

the ceremonies of the occasion, and partakes of the 
feast which had been provided. After his appetite 
had been satisfied, and before pronouncing the patri- 
archial blessing, Isaac required his son to come near 
and kiss him, in which act he applied the further test 
of smelling, and then seems to have been fully con- 
vinced that Jacob was his first-born, and thereupon 
proceeded to express his wishes in regard to the future 
of Esau's life in which he recognized all blessings as 
coming from God. Though he had great wealth, he 
does not appear to have thought of that, or in any way 
to have signified his wishes as to how he would have it 
disposed of on that occasion. 

We notice that the high state of exalted feeling 
which elated the father's heart, soon passed away when 
Esau came, in fulfillment of his father's request, and 
offered him the feast that he had prepared. Isaac was 
greatly surprised and excited at this discovery; and 
though apparently much displeased at the deception 
practiced upon him, yet he firmly decided to let the 
blessing remain as he had declared, confirming upon 
Jacob the pre-eminence which he had pronounced, 
w T hen he supposed that he was his eldest son, which 
may possibly have been caused by his calling to mind 
the old story of his wife in regard to the prophecy of 
the younger son's superiority, and as Jacob had ob- 
tained the chief blessing, he seemed to regard the out- 
come of the events (so different from what he had de- 
signed,) as an indication of the Lord's will, and was dis- 
posed not only to acquiesce, but to give his sanction 
to a departure from the usual rule of primogeniture, 
in accordance with the divine decree. This decision 
of his father much grieved Esau, who finally obtained 
an inferior blessing, which under the circumstances he 
ought to have been satisfied with, as he had previously 



54 REBECCA AND JACOB. 

sold his birthright to his brother, and therefore 
had no rightful claim to it. But not so did the 
impious man regard this former oath, as he with 
singular obduracy and hard-heartedness, resolved that 
after his father's death he would slay his brother. 

It now remains to notice the effect of these transac- 
tions on the after life of those who thus deceived a hus- 
band and a father. Rebecca, who first instigated the 
scheme, and for the love of her favorite son was willing 
to bear the blame, soon had her fears greatly excited on 
learning of Esau's design to kill his brother after her 
husband's death ; and in order to avert such an event 
was constrained by her anxiety to advise Jacob to go 
away for a time ; and, as the future events proved, she 
was never to see him again, though how long she lived 
after that, the sacred record does not inform us. She 
by her over-anxiety and efforts to secure the highest 
blessings for her favorite, wrought a feeling of deadly 
enmity in the mind of Esau, which probably worried 
her all the remaining days oi her life. 

And as to Jacob, the same fears exiled him from his 
father's house, to sojourn in a distant country, and 
though heir to great riches, was forced to be a hired 
laborer, and in that position to experience many dis- 
appointments, and during the twenty years of his ab- 
sence from his home, to be continually subject to anx- 
iety and labor both by day and by night, in summer 
and in winter, till at last by his industry and shrewd- 
ness he had acquired a competence ; and when at last 
he set out for his paternal home, he was beset by grave 
fears for his own safety and that of his family, from 
the apprehended ill-will of his brother. And when 
that had passed, we may imagine that he must have 
had continual causes for irritation in the conflicting 
wishes of his wives, and the children of his several 



REBECCA AND JACOB. 55 

wives, a few of which are related ; but the daily and 
hourly recurrence of occasions when his interfer- 
ence was called for to stop a quarrel or punish an of- 
fence, together with the anxiety that must have exer- 
cised his mind as the responsibility of seeing that jus- 
tice was done to all, was forced upon him ; so that we 
do not wonder that, when in his latter years, the king 
of Egypt inquired his age, in his reply he affirms that : 
"few and evil have the days of the years of mv life 
been." 

These discomforts which beset the lives of Rebecca 
and Jacob, and which can be fairly considered as hav- 
ing resulted from the deceptions practiced upon Isaac, 
(the sins of lying and the irreverent use of the name 
of the Lord) afford a lesson to Israelite and Christian 
people, which should deter them from ever thinking 
that they can please God by " doing evil " and expect- 
ing "that good may come." [Rom. iii, 8]. And there- 
fore I earnestly exhort the readers to be always anxious 
to do right, leaving the Lord to work out His designs 
in His own way, only being careful to do their duties 
in that state of life in which it has pleased God to call 
them. 

Two other cases I will refer to, which will illustrate 
the w r ay in which God saw fit to deal with those who 
lied and endeavored to gain credence by connecting 
the name of the Lord with their assertions. The first 
is in I. Kings xiii; the second may be found in II. 
Chronicles, xviii. These cases were of a more aggra- 
vated character than that of Jacob, therefore they 
received more severe punishments. 

Will not those who are addicted to the habit of pro- 
faning the name of their Creator by using it to attain 
wicked ends, or use it as a thoughtless prayer for curses 
on persons or things that happen to displease them, be 



56 REBECCA AND JACOB. 

warned by these cases, that He who has declared that 
those w T ho take His name in vain will not be held 
guiltless — that they, who in this way use it wx>rse than 
in vain, by seeking to advance sinful courses, by a for- 
bidden calling on name of the Lord, will, unless they 
repent and amend their habits of thought and speak- 
ing, be held as guilty in His sight. 

Finally, all who call themselves Christians and all 
who desire the blessings promised to sincere followers 
of Jesus Christ, I desire to remind of the words of St. 
Paul to the Colossians [iii, 9] : " Lie not to one an- 
other," lest you, with the father of lies, are condemned 
to share the fate of the devil and his angels. And also 
of the language of the same apostle to the Ephesians, 
[Eph. iv, 25,] " Wherefore, putting away lying, speak 
every man truth with his neighbor; for we are mem- 
bers one of another." 



ARTICLE XI. 



Shechem, Dinah, Simeon and Levi. — Gen. xxxiv. 

TWENTY-EIGHT years after the events referred to in 
the preceding article, some surprising events occurred in 
the city of Shalem, which occasioned great uneasiness 
and fear in Jacob's family. He had then a large num- 
ber of sons, and only one daughter, who was a damsel 
of remarkable beauty and grace — as were her grand- 
mother, Rebecca, and her great-grandmother Sarai, — 
so that she, as they did, inspired in the heart of a man 
in the highest rank in the country — probably the heir 
to the throne, an ardent desire for her as a wife. 

Dinah being an only daughter w r as probably, allowed 
to do pretty much as she pleased, and choose her own as- 
sociates ; and her father had so many boys to look after, 
she very likely w r as left mostly to her mother's care, who, 
not being the best beloved of her husband, may not 
have been as careful, as we may suppose Rachel would, to 
follow Jacob's ideas in regard to her early training; 
and we have evidence that his religious and moral prin- 
ciples w r ere less strict than those of his father and grand- 
father — even as it is at this period of the world's history, 
when people generally imagine that their fathers and 
grandfathers were unreasonably strict in their require- 
ments of their children. But there is reason for fearing 
that, by the gradual lowering of the standard of public 
virtue, by the succeeding generations of our nation, it 
will eventually become so far below that which the 
Lord can consistently regard with favor, that we cannot 
but expect that a curse will be visited upon our people 
for their disregard of His laws to Whom our highest love 



58 SHECHEM, DINAH, SIMEON AND LEVI. 

and gratitude are due, " for our being, our reason and all 
the blessings of this life/ 7 and for the gracious promises 
of everlasting joy to those who use this life aright. 

But to return to the case of Dinah. It is recorded that 
she "went out to see the daughters of the land." This 
was the carrying out of a very natural desire on the 
part of the young girl, who was, probably, not less than 
15 and ma;; have been 17 years old. Profane history 
intimates that the occasion of her going was a festival 
among the Shechemites — possibly the celebration of 
some event in their history. The new sights and sounds 
which greeted her eyes and ears, as she mixed with 
the young people and joined in their sports, must have 
occasioned a hilarity of feeling well calculated to bewil- 
der her mind and lead her to readily acquiesce in any 
amusements which may have been proposed to her, 
with little or no thought of what they might lead to, 
and the zest with which she may have entered into the 
enjoyments of the occasion may have so heightened her 
natural beauty, that she was doubly attractive to all 
observers. She seemed at once to have awakened in 
the heart of the young prince that feeling which in 
these times is styled " love at first sight"; and he was 
so zealous in his attentions, so urgent in the manifesta- 
tion of his passion, and, we may suppose, so profuse in 
his promises, that she allowed him to " lay with her" 
and defile her ; though he evidently had a sincere inten- 
tion of atoning for his fault by making her his wife. 

What may have been the customs among the She- 
chemites in regard to the associations between the sexes 
I do not know T , though I infer that they were more lax 
than those of the family of Jacob ; but the young man 
being a prince, was probably in the habit of doing very 
much as he pleased among his young associates. He 
did not, as some moderns have done, after having grati- 



SHECHEM, DINAH, SIMEON AND LEVI. 59 

fied his passion, despise and leave her, but loved her 
and spake kindly to her; he without delay desired his 
father to intercede for him with Jacob to give her to 
him for a wife, which Hamor proceeded to do, and at 
the same time proposed a treaty of amity and reciproc- 
ity and offered also to Jacob and his sons the rights of 
citizens. 

When Jacob heard of the affair, he seemed so much 
at a loss what to do, that he would take no action till 
his sons came from the field. When they arrived a 
consultation was held and terms agreed upon, which 
the Shechemites were finally prevailed upon by their 
rulers to consent to — by submitting to that rite which 
God had appointed to Abraham as the seal of his true 
worshipers. 

Jacob's sons when they had learned of the conduct of 
the young prince with their sister, were grieved and 
very wrathful ; and, notwithstanding Shechem's offer 
to do all he could to remedy the folly he had committed, 
and the agreement of the Shechemites to the terms 
which they had proposed as conditions for Dinah be- 
coming the wife of the Shechemite prince, they plotted 
a terrible revenge, not only against the offending per- 
son, but against all the men of the city. They, as many 
young men in modern times have done, thought they 
could not do too much to punish the indignity put upon 
their families by the disgraceful actions of others. Two 
of the damsel's full brothers, Simeon and Levi, seem to 
have been the leaders of the plot, though the others 
appear to have readily acquiesced in it. The men of 
the city had been circumcised according to the custom 
of the children of Israel, and when from the effects of 
the operation they were incapacitated to defend them- 
selves, these brothers, probably assisted by their serv- 
ants and shepherds and herdmen, slew all the men of 



60 SHECHEM, DINAH, SIMEON AND LEVI. 

the city ; and all this without the knowledge of their 
father, to whose experience, and interest in his only 
daughter qualified him to be the director of what was 
proper to be done on such an occasion. Truly, these 
men must have been fearfully intoxicated with the lust, 
of revenge to have so outraged all the ideas of moral 
and religious equity. By their intemperate action they 
prevented what might have been an important mis- 
sionary movement for extending the knowledge and 
worship of the true God ; and also, they so endangered 
their own prospects of a peaceful residence in that region, 
that Jacob was directed to remove to another place. 

What the immediate effects on Simeon and Levi were 
we are not told, though Jacob complained to them: 
" Ye have troubled me to make me stink among the 
inhabitants of the land/' and he seemed to be in great 
fear that the subjects of King Hamor would take ven- 
geance upon him and his sons for their slaughter of the 
king and nobles of the royal city, and for the sacking 
and spoiling of its houses and the taking captive of its 
women and children. And this was not a transient 
feeling which soon faded away, but probably embittered 
his whole life afterward, as may be inferred from his 
language on these two sons, on the occasion of his speak- 
ing his dying words to his children, when he said : 
" Simeon and Levi are brethren ; instruments of cruelty 
are in their habitatations. 0, my soul come not thou 
into their secret ; unto their assembly mine honor be 
not thou united ! for in their anger they slew a man r 
and in their self-w T ill they digged down a wall. Cursed 
be their anger for it was fierce ; and their wrath for it 
was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob and scatter 
them in Israel." [Gen. xlix, 5 — 7.] 

I will next refer to the result to Shechem of his assault 
on the purity of the young girl, which his impetuous 



SHECHEM, DINAH, SIMEON AND LEVI. 61 

passion induced him to make. By arousing the venge- 
ance of Dinah's brothers his life was cut short, and he 
was unable to fullfil his good intentions to the one who 
had inspired him with feelings that, when tempered by 
moral and religious restraints, are the most delightful 
that can exist between individuals of the human race ; 
and not only this, he was prevented from the exercise 
of the kingly office, in which he might have greatly 
benefitted his subjects and gained for himself honorable 
renown. 

As to what was the effect on the after life of Dinah 
we are left to conjecture. Her brothers took her away 
from the young prince's house, probably against her 
will ; and it would not be unreasonable to suppose that, 
after the delightful experiences of her intercourse with 
the young maidens of the neighborhood, and the assid- 
ious attention^ of Shechem, followed as they were by 
the terrible tragedies which her brothers enacted, had 
such an effect upon her mental faculties as to render 
her both unfit and indisposed to assume the duties and 
responsibilities of a wite; and then, again, it might 
have been that such a stain was fixed upon her char- 
acter, that no man of a sufficiently high standing socially 
and religiously to secure the assent of her father, ever 
wanted her — for it will be remembered that, at that 
period daughters were much more under the control of 
their parents, than they are at this time in our country. 
Her name is but once mentioned afterward in scripture 
history, and then only as being one of Jacob's family 
when he went down into Egypt, about twenty-six years 
later. [See chapter xlvi, 15.] 

In making use of these events for the instruction of 
the reader, I will suggest the following cautions : Let 
young men who are tempted to take advantage of trust- 
ing girls and run the risk of ruining their reputations, 



62 SHECHEM, DINAH, SIMEON AND LEVI. 

consider that by following the bent of their inclinations, 
they will not only commit great sins against God and 
their own souls, but do an irreparable wrong to those 
whom they ought to respect and protect. Let young 
girls be assured that a man who attempts to entice them 
from the path of virtue, is one w T hose promises are of 
little value^ and his pretended friendship is likely to 
prove a curse to them. And to all who are disposed to 
render evil to others for any real or fancied injuries, I 
call to their minds that the Lord hath said : " To Me 
belongeth vengeance, and recompense. " [Deut. xxxii, 35 ; 
Heb. x, 30; Rom. xii, 19.] 

Another affair of a similar character is related as 
occuring in the family of King David ; see II. Sam. xiii, 
the final result of which is given in chapter xviii, 14 — 18. 



ARTICLE XII. 



Joseph's Brethren. — Gen. xxxvii ; xlii, 6 — 28. 

I come now to remark upon another event which 
seriously affected the happiness of Jacob through the 
conduct of his sons. 

After a long delay, his best beloved wife had borne 
him a son, and Rachel's son became very dear to the 
old man's heart. No doubt his mother took great care 
of him, and we have good reason for thinking that she 
was judicious in the management of the lad, because 
he seemed to be an extraordinary good boy. 

The older sons of Jacob continued to conduct 
themselves wickedly when their father was not w T ith 
them, so much so, that Joseph could not forbear telling 
Jacob of their evil doings, which probably was the cause 
of their receiving reproofs, and also was a reason for a 
dislike for the conscientious boy ; for wicked persons are 
sure to hate those who report their misdeeds. 

But their father's partiality appears to have been 
manifested in an unwise way, by providing him with 
an extra gay coat, which seems to have set his young 
mind to dreaming — which dreams seemed to portend 
his future pre-eminence over his brethren, and with 
great simplicity he told them to the family, thereby 
increasing the hatred which the brothers had cherished 
toward him ; and even the father reproved him for 
what he appeared to think was an unwise mention of 
his youthful fancies ; and yet the impression which the 
relation made upon the old man's mind was such, that 
he gave particular attention to his favorite boy, with a 



64 Joseph's brethren. 

seeming feeling of expectation that the dreams were a 
prophetic intimation of events in the future, as the sub- 
sequent history of the children of Israel proved them 
to be. 

In this connection I will make the remark that, per- 
haps God does still visit his servants in visions of the 
night, for their comfort or warning ; and that there is 
wisdom in reflecting upon what seems to come to our 
minds when the body is sleeping. The writer cannot 
testify from his own experience of benefit derived from 
his own dreaming, but he does know of a case where a 
friend was relieved of anxiety on his account, by a 
dream which revealed to her circumstances of which 
she was not aware, but which proved to be true. 

But notwithstanding the ill-will which his brothers 
exhibited to Joseph, he seems to have cherished a 
proper feeling toward his father's sons, as well as a 
filial and obedient spirit to his father, being ready to 
undertake a somewhat hazardous journey to satisfy 
his father's anxiety as to their welfare. After 
arriving at the place to which he had been sent, and 
not finding his brethren, instead of giving up the 
undertaking, he went in search of them — extending 
his travels some ten or fifteen miles in order to find 
them, so that he could tell his father of their welfare 
and the condition of the flocks and herds. 

When Joseph came in sight of his brethren, they 
showed the bitter enmity they had towards him by 
conspiring to take his life, with the declared intention 
of bringing the indications of his dreams to nought, 
and they were only prevented from carrying out their 
plan by the non-concurrence of Reuben ; but with a 
cruelty to their father scarcely less than would have 
been the killing of their brother, they contrived a 
scheme to deceive him into the belief that Joseph had 



65 

been devoured by wild beasts, which so grieved the 
bereaved father that he refused to be comforted by all 
the efforts which his children could make to alleviate 
his sorrow, for he declared : " I will go down into the 
grave, unto my son, mourning." 

Thus was the famous patriarch, (whose name had 
been changed by the Lord to "Israel," which name 
has been perpetuated in the history of the most won- 
derful nation of the world,) rendered miserable and un- 
happy during his declining years, through the wicked- 
ness of his children, occasioned by his own fault in 
permitting his family to live in disobedience to the 
rules of godliness. It is true he had great difficulties 
to encounter in the conflicting wishes of his four wives, 
and the stubborn and reckless behavior of his many 
children, which would very likely have been avoided, 
had he been permitted to have his beloved Rachel 
only, with whom he could have lived in peace and 
sympathy, and trained up their children to be, as was 
his son Joseph, a benefactor of his time, and a model 
of a wise statesman and a faithful public servant. 

It may be observed that both Abraham and Jacob r 
of their own choice, were contented with a single wife, 
if they had been permitted to have the one of their 
choice, though they both took other wives — the first, 
because he was solicited to do so by his beloved Sarah, 
as a means of remedying her own inability, that her 
husband might have an heir ; but when at last her 
own defects had been removed, and she became a 
mother indeed, trouble sprang up in the family, which- 
led to bad results ; and the second, because the father 
of the girl of his choice deceived him by giving him 
the wrong daughter, and so he was constrained by his 
ardent affection for Rachel, to take a second w T ife ; and 
when she was incapable of bearing children, she 



66 Joseph's brethren. 

importuned her husband to take her handmaid as a wife, 
so that she could adopt her servant's children as her 
own; and as Leah also claimed, and obtained the same 
privilege in behalf of her handmaid, Jacob found him- 
self encompassed with a quadrupled amount of respons- 
ibility, which must iiave filled his mind with constant 
anxiety, amidst the active rivalry of the contending 
interests of the four women who claimed his affection 
and protection. No wonder that the harmony and 
morals of the family suffered in the contests. 

It is not the purpose of this article to pursue the 
future history of Joseph in detail, but so much of it is 
pertinent, as will prove the true prophetic character of 
his dreams. Though sold as a slave, he, by his faith- 
fulness to every trust confided to him, won the un- 
bounded confidence of his master, and though falsely 
charged and imprisoned, he maintained a high degree 
of integrity, and a firm trust in God ; and by God's 
providential ordering he was raised to the responsible 
position of governor of Egypt, in which position he 
received the prophesied acts of homage by his brethren. 

It may be of interest to remark, that the children of 
Israel received 20 pieces of silver for the first slave 
they sold to foreign slave-traders; but they had to 
undergo hundreds of years of servitude themselves, 
and loss of hundreds of thousands of men in the 
wilderness, before they got the bones of Joseph back to 
the land of Canaan. These judgments, we may sup- 
pose, were visited upon them, for their own wickedness, 
in connection with the wickedness of the original 
Canaanites, among whom they dwelt. 

Another case of similar character, where a brother 
plotted against a brother, occurred in the case when 
Absalom conspired and murdered Ammon, though 
Amnion was really a guilty man and deserved punish- 



Joseph's brethren. 67 

ment ; an account of which may be found in the second 
book of Samuel xiii, 23 — 37. 

St. Paul to the Romans, [chap, xii, 10,] exhorts 
Christians to " Be kindly aflectioned one to another 
with brotherly love," with such an affection as is suit- 
able to the relation of persons having the same parents, 
and whose welfare and honor are very closely bound 
together, as they, in a more important sense, are related 
to each other — being the adopted children of God, 
through Christ, and heirs of an everlasting inheritance 
together ; so we should cherish a sincere and unselfish 
regard for each other. 

But mankind is so "very far gone from original 
righteousness/' that instances are not infrequent where 
persons holding this relationship to each other, have 
become irreconcilable enemies; so that Solomon's 
experience led him to make a proverb to the effect that, 
" A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong 
city ; and their contentions are like the bars of a 
castle." [Prov. xviii, 19.] Therefore, it is imperative 
that all who desire to obtain a disposition of heart in 
accord with God's requirements, that they give all dili- 
gence to become such characters as He can permit to 
share the felicities " which God hath prepared for them 
that love Him." [I. Cor., ii, 9.] 



ARTICLE XIII. 



Herod the Great. — Matt, ii ; 1 — 18. 

HAVING made remarks upon the recorded actions of 
quite a number of individuals mentioned in the Old 
Testament history, with the view of showing how God 
dealt with them for the short-comings in their duties 
to Him and their fellow-men, and the effects of such 
acts upon others, in the previous twelve articles, I now 
turn to the New Testament with the design of consider- 
ing in the same general way, a few of the cases there 
related — either historical events or parabolic illustra- 
tions by our Lord, — with the same object in view, that 
of warning the readers against yielding to the tempta- 
tions of the w r orld, the flesh and the devils; as they 
will, if not resisted and repented of, lead them into for- 
getfulness of God, if not into open rebellion against 
Him, and result in " everlasting destruction from the 
presence of the Lord," [II Thes. i, 9.] — who will take 
" vengeance on them that know not God, and that 
obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ/' [verse 8.] 

The first case presented is that related in the second 
chapter of Matthew, where it is recorded that learned 
men arrived at the city of Jerusalem, making inquiries 
for a prophesied Prince of the Jewish nation, declaring 
that while in their own country they had seen His 
Star; and they were so impressed with its strange 
appearance that they thought it wise to make a long 
journey to bespeak his favor, by rendering their hom- 
age to one who was so wonderfully heralded by the 
movements of the heavenly bodies. 

A great commotion occurred in Jerusalem when 



HEROD THE **REAT. 71 

these men appeared and made known their errand. 
The so-called king (though he was only a gov- 
ernor, appointed by a Roman Emperor,) because he 
supposed that in case a real king of the Jews, who was 
appointed by God through authenticated prophesies 
should come to the throne of David, he would take 
from his family the authority and privileges they were 
enjoying; the Herodian party, because if the reigning 
dynasty w T ere overthrown, their present honors and 
emoluments would be lost ; and the priests and people, 
because they knew that, before the powder of the 
Romans could be overthrown great battles would have 
to be fought, and long and arduous struggles with the 
greatest military power on earth would be necessary,, 
and they, although they felt greatly annoyed by the 
subjugated condition in which they were held, had not 
the patriotism and bravery necessary to urge them on 
to a struggle to obtain what they desired. But there 
were a few, like the shepherds, who on receiving the 
announcement of his birth from the angelic host, 
hastened to Bethlehem, and when thev had seen Him, 
reported abroad the story told them by the angel, 
[Luke ii, 8 — 20] ; or like Simon and Anna, who greeted 
the young prince w r ith satisfied desire and joyful hope, 
and having a more definite comprehension of the 
character of Christ's kingdom, gave their testimony to 
the great things that might be expected from Him. 

Herod, in order to learn the exact facts in regard to 
the prophecies concerning the Christ, applied to the 
authorized teachers of the scriptures, the chief priests, 
together with the scribes, whose business was to copy 
the sacred writings, (a business akin to the print- 
ing of bibles in these days,) for the information which 
the learned strangers asked for, and w r hen it was 
obtained, he sent them to Bethlehem, enjoining upon 



72 HEROD THE GREAT. 

them to let him know if they found the young child, 
pretending that he desired to pay the Heaven- 
appointed King the worship due to Him. 

The travelers from the east went to Bethlehem, and 
guided by the star, readily discovered the young child, 
though in circumstances quite different from what they 
probably expected, for, instead of a palace and sur- 
rounded by circumstances of worldly grandeur which 
usually attend the princes of the world, they found 
only apparently a couple of poor peasants, lodged in a 
humble dwelling, with their child, not clothed in gar- 
ments prepared for Him, but wrapped in cloths 
swathed about His body, indicating that the parents 
were unable to supply their child with the most ordin- 
ary garments. But, notwithstanding these adverse 
appearances, these men of science and learning seem 
not to have wavered in their faith, that the infant before 
them was the person who had been prophesied of, and 
the one for whom the star had been sent to guide them 
to His presence; and so they presented their homage 
both by acts and gifts, no doubt well satisfied that they 
had attained the object of their journey; but having 
had dreams which they interpreted as warnings that it 
was God's will that they should not return to Herod, 
they went- back to the east by another route. 

To return to the case of Herod, whose conduct in this 
affair contains the warning which this article is 
designed to enforce, when he found that the wise men 
did not heed his desire to be informed of the discovery 
of the child, was very wroth, and showed the duplicity 
which he tried to practice on the eastern visitors, by 
ordering that the children two years old and under, 
that were in Bethlehem and the coasts thereof, should 
be slain, thinking that in that way he could thwart 
jQod's purposes. The cruel order was executed, but 



HEROD THE GREAT. 73 

failed of its object, for God warned Joseph by a dream 
to flee into Egypt, and so he was saved from the 
slaughter which was visited on those little ones, whom 
Christians in all ages since that time have styled 
" holy innocents," and thus they have received honors 
and remembrances which have been given to no other 
equal number of infants since the world began. But 
for that act Herod's name stands out in bold relief in 
the world's history as one of the most heartless and 
cruel of the human race, and his name is likely to be 
held in detestation as long as the world endures, by all 
who cherish the ordinary feelings of humanity, and 
especially by those who have learned its highest and 
holiest emotions and manifestations, as embodied in 
the teachings of the God-man, and exhibited in the 
lives of many of His disciples in all ages since His 
earthly life was finished. 

Herod was intoxicated with the extravagant ideas 
that he must, at every risk, secure the government to 
his family, and that he had the power to change the 
purposes of God, which had been declared by prophet 
after prophet, whose teachings had been accepted by 
the Jewish nation as the Lord's revealed will, and 
further attested by the extraordinary journey and 
wonderful story of the most learned and scientific men 
of that age of the world. But though Herod may have 
had some idea that his cruel scheme succeeded in put- 
ting an end to the probability of a rival to his family 
in the government of Judea, his life did not long sur- 
vive these events. We may be sure that any time he 
may have had for calm reflections on the results of this 
act, could not have afforded him any satisfaction — 
unless his soul had become so imbued with a devilish 
spirit that he could delight in sorrow, wickedness 
and blood. 



74 HEROD THE GREAT. 

To apply the warning of this subject to the people of 
this age and country : Those who reject the christian 
system now, are as strangely blinded by their passions 
and prejudices, as was Herod the tetrarch, when, in 
spite of the testimony of God verified by the most 
wonderful miraculous manifestations — in spite of the 
testimony of the wisest and purest of men in every age 
of the world, they neglect to accept the offers of eternal 
life and joy, made in the gospel of the Son of God by 
the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, choosing instead 
the fleeting but unsatisfactory pleasures of this world, 
which will soon end with each one of them — they 
know not how soon. They seem willing to live lives 
of disobedience to God's laws, cherishing thoughts and 
passions at variance with His will, and even at vari- 
ance with what their own consciences must assure 
them is right and true; with no well-founded hope of 
happiness when this life is ended ; " but a certain fearful 
looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which 
shall devour the adversaries" of God. [Heb. x, 27.] 

Another similar instance is recorded in I Sam. [xviii 
— xxiv chapters,] where Saul sought to destroy David, 
whom God had selected to be his successor. 

God commanded the children of Israel, " Thou shalt 
not kill," [Ex. xx, 13,] and Christ explains the spirit of 
the commandment by saying, "Whosoever is angry 
with his brother without a cause" violates it; [Matt, 
vi, 22,] and John in explaining it to the seven churches 
in Asia, wrote : "Whosoever hateth his brother is a 
murderer." [I John iii, 15.] 



ARTICLE XIV. 



Herod Antipas, Herodias. — Mark vi, 14 — 29. 

THE next event which is given in the gospels, that 
affords a suitable subject for this series of articles, hap- 
pened about thirty years after the event related in the 
second chapter of Matthew. The principal character in 
the narrative was a son of " Herod the Great," who had 
obtained the government over a portion of the terri- 
tory over which his father reigned. His character 
seems to have been less cruel and impetuous than his 
father's, and so he was more open to the intrigues and 
designs of others. Indeed, had he not been thus influ- 
enced, it is likely that he would have become a disci- 
ple both of John the Baptist and of Jesus. 

During Herod's administration of the government, a 
wonderful preacher appeared in the country, whose 
startling predictions of a great event about to occur, and 
indignant denunciations of the wickedness which pre- 
vailed among people of all degrees, and earnest exhort- 
ations to repentance, w-ere delivered with a power, direct- 
ness and pathos which awakened the attention of the 
people of a wide section of the country, who attended 
upon his preaching, many of whom w r ere convinced of 
their sins, promised repentance, and received a baptism 
as a testimony of their belief of the predictions, doc- 
trines and duties that were the burden of his discourses. 

Among the interested hearers of the great preacher 
was Herod, who heard him gladly and did many things 
to w T hich he had been exhorted by John. But he did not 
bring forth fruit meet for repentance, by forsaking all 
that he knew to be sins against God — for he had taken 



76 HEROD ANTIPAS, HERODIAS. 

as a wife, not only the wife of another man, but a woman 
whose relation to him was such that it was impossible 
for her to become his wife without violating God's law 
given through Moses. John had plainly rebuked him 
for this sin, but without inducing him to repent of it — 
he still kept on in the course of disobedience ; though 
he did not seem to be very seriously offended with the 
prophet for his plain preaching. 

But not so did Herodias, his partner in this sin, regard 
the messenger of the Lord ; for she set about contriving 
a scheme for accomplishing his death. She was not 
able to succeed by any direct influence upon Herod, but 
by taking the occasion of his birth-day festival, when 
he had invited his lords, high captains and the wealth- 
iest of his subjects to a supper, and when they had feast- 
ed upon the choicest viands of the country, and par- 
taken freely of the richest wines of the vintage, and had 
become oblivious to serious business, she sent her beau- 
tiful daughter, arrayed, no doubt, in brilliant apparel, 
to dance before the company, which so pleased Herod 
that ; in his inebriated condition, he promised with an 
oath that he w T ould give her whatever she would ask, 
even to the half of his kingdom. The damsel went to 
her mother for advice as to what she should ask, who 
perceiving that it was a favorable opportunity to wreak 
her vengeance upon the faithful preacher, immediately 
instructed her daughter to ask the head of John the 
Baptist ; and the daughter seemed ready to obey her 
mother, and she made the demand forthwith. 

Never, perhaps, was a person more astonished at any 
unexpected choice of a woman, than was Herod at the 
unmaidenly request of the radiant girl, for while he 
w T ould have willingly satisfied to the utmost the ordin- 
ary desires of the female heart, he was very sorry that 
she had asked such a murderous act as a favor ; but 



HEROD ANTIPAS, HERODIAS. 77 

because he had promised with an oath in the presence 
of such a company, he felt constrained to keep his 
promise, which he did by ordering an executioner to 
behead the man whom Jesus declared to be the greatest 
prophet who had ever been born, and whom he, him- 
self, regarded as just and holy. 

We may readily conceive how this heinous act must 
have disquieted Herod's conscience, as soon as the 
excitement of the occasion and the intoxication caused 
by the beverages had produced, passed away; one illus- 
tration of which is shown by the fact that, when the 
report of the miracles which Jesus did came to him, 
his conclusion was that He was John the Baptist who 
w r as risen from the dead. 

If this was the only unjust act (though probably it 
was not,) of Herod's administration, the Emperor of 
Rome had good reason for taking from him his office 
and banishing him to Lyons, a city of Gaul, whither 
Herodias accompanied him. They must have ended 
their lives in a condition of disappointment and unhap- 
piness which only christian virtue and hope would have 
enabled them to bear cheerfully ; but that condition of 
mind, it is probable, they never attained. 

It is indispensable to a genuine repentance, that it 
should include everything known to be displeasing to 
God — the hearing the preached word, and doing only 
a part of the duties commanded will never result in a 
full salvation. 

In our own days the preachers of the gospel are often 
reviled, their warnings made light of, and their prof- 
fered assistance scorned by those who most need their 
help ; so much is this the case that, no doubt, many of 
Christ's ambassadors are greatly discouraged in their 
efforts to awaken their hearers to a proper sense of the 
dangers that threaten those who, year after year delay 



78 HEROD ANTIPAS, HERODIAS. 

the commencement of the work of preparing their hearts 
for the pleasures which are at God's right hand, till so 
late a period, that there is little probability that they 
will ever be able to acquire that relish for holy truths 
and holy employments, without which the society of 
the Lord, the holy angels and the spirits of the just 
made perfect will be uncongenial company. If w T e do 
not learn to delight in these things during our earthly 
days of probation, we may reasonably expect that we 
should never be able to enjoy them, even were we to be 
admitted to the locality of the blessed of God. 

The only other spiritual condition made known in 
God's word is a state of hostility to all that is good and 
and holy, in company with the devil and his angels, 
and with those of earth who rejected the offers of the 
Christ's salvation and ceased not to work wickedness ; 
from which condition there w T ill be no hope of relief. 

Similar cases are those of Ahab and Jezebel. Corre- 
sponding events in their history are related in I. Kings 
xviii, 13 ; xxi, 5 — 16 ; II. Kings ix, 30 — 37. 



ARTICLE XV. 



The Unthankful Subjects. — Matt, xxii ; 2 — 14. 

ALTHOUGH the parables of our Lord may not 
have the pertinency in the minds of some people, 
as the actual facts of history, with which to illus- 
trate the folly of sin, and the danger of being 
lead into wickedness by our own selfish desires, 
yet in them, we may believe, that there are illustra- 
tions of God's dealings w T ith men, which we are less 
liable to mistake the exact lesson intended to be taught, 
than when we make our own conclusions upon the 
facts which have come to our knowledge of the past. 

It is supposed that most of Jesus' parables are 
founded on actual events — being, as it were, a sort of 
paraphrases — and that they may be considered in their 
earthly parts, as having actually happened, to which 
Jesus made instructive applications, by showing how 
they portray the principles upon which God acts in 
His dealings with mankind. 

The parable that we find related by St. Matthew, 
which I have chosen to consider, is entitled the 
marriage feast of the King's son, in which God 
the Father is represented as having given out 
invitations to the wedding, and at the proper 
time, as sending his servants to call them that were 
bidden, (the children of Israel,) to the marriage, 
(Christ being the bridegroom, and the Church the 
bride); but those who had received the messages 
neglected the call. Passing over the first slight, the 
King again sent his servants with a more urgent 
message and giving additional reasons why there 



80 THE UNTHANKFUL SUBJECTS. 

should be no further delay in attending to the sum- 
mons ; but the second messages are again treated with 
disdain and the messengers met with insults by the 
principal ones, who went to their usual avocations, as 
though the King's wishes and the interests of the king- 
dom were of no consequence to them, while the less 
civilized people treated them with insults, cruelty and 
death, indicating the persecutions which the early 
disciples received. 

At this the King was angry, and sent his soldiers 
who destroyed those murderers and burned their city, 
(which prefigured the destruction of Jerusalem under 
Titus.) 

But that the festal preparations shall not have -been 
made in vain, the King directed the servants to go out 
into the highways and bring in all that they found, 
both bad and good, declaring that those who had been 
invited were not worthy. 

I will now briefly state the meaning of the parable 
as understood by learned commentators : the Kingdom 
of Heaven represents the laws of the Christian Dispens- 
ation as administered by the authority of the Lord 
Jesus, the Christ of the Prophets, and the King of the 
Saints ; the King represents God the Father Almighty ; 
the Son represents Jesas ; though nothing is said of a 
bride, other scriptures represent the Christian Church 
as the bride. — [See Eph. v, 25 — 27, 32 ; and Rev. xix, 
7, 9.] ; the servants were John the Baptist, and the 
first preachers of the gospel, those invited were the 
children of Israel, who were invited long before by 
Moses and other prophets, and this call was to remind 
them that the feast was ready; the feast will be the 
blessings and joys of a true christian life and the rest of 
the Heavenly state after the resurrection; the other 
servants, the later preachers of the gospel in apostolic 



THE UNTHANKFUL SUBJECTS. 81 

times; the armies of the King, the Roman armies; 
their city, Jerusalem ; the inviting people from the 
highways, represent the calling of the gentiles. 

Marriages are occasions, when so much happiness is 
anticipated by the bridegroom and bride, that they 
usually desire that all their friends should so far 
sympathize with them as to wish them well, not only 
by inward feelings, but by outward manifestations; 
and the same is probably true of most of the young 
friends of the young couple, who doubtless feel that 
the cheering circumstances by which they are sur- 
rounded, may be hoped for themselves also, in the 
near future. 

It should be noted however that marriage feasts, at 
the time that Jesus spake this parable, at least among 
the higher classes, (and the parable represents a mar- 
riage of the very highest class) were continued for several 
days. 

The parable is designed to represent a heavenly 
state of things, which can only be faintly paralleled by 
the arrangements of earthly society. One particular 
in which earthly feasts fail to fully represent the 
heavenly feast is the character and attributes of the 
maker of the feast — the Great Jehovah, the Creator and 
sustainer of all things, the omnipotent, omnipresent 
and omniscient being, who has no equal among 
created beings, though His only-begotten Son claimed, 
and was acknowledged to be His equal in dignity by 
the greatest and most versatile writer of the New 
Testament. Witness the following verses : 

"Who being the brightness of His [God's] glory and 
the express image of His person, and upholding all 
things by the word of His power, when He had by Him- 
self purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the 
Majesty on high ; Unto the Son He 



82 THE UNTHANKFUL SUBJECTS. 

saiih, Thy throne, God is forever and ever ; a sceptre 
of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom," [Heb. 
i, 3, 8.] 

The Israelites had been notified before of this feast 
by Moses and the other prophets, who had prophesied 
of the Messiah, and the blessings which He would give 
to those who should believe the good tidings and obey 
the gospel. [See Deut. xviii, 15, 18; Jer. xxiii, 5; Is. 
vii, 14; xi, 1 — 5; lxii, 11; xxv, 6, 9; Micah. v, 2.] 
The announcement that the feast was ready was made 
by John the Baptist, [See Matt, hi, 11, 12] ; by God the 
Father, [See Matt, iii, 17] ; by Jesus himself, [Matt, iv, 
17 ; v, 3 to chap, vii, 28] ; by his disciples. Matt, x, 5 
— 42 contains Jesus' instructions to them ; also Luke 
x, 1 — 17 ; and after the day of Pentecost, the apostles 
and first christian preachers, [See Acts ii, 1 — 36; iii, 12 
—26 ; iv, 8—12 ; v, 29—32 ; vii, 37—38 ; viii, 26—35 ; 
ix, 17—22; x, 34—44; xi, 22—26; xiii, 44—49.] 

I will now note the character and dignity of those 
who were invited to the feast. They were the descend- 
ants of Abraham, through Isaac and Jacob, and heirs 
of the promises which God made to that patriarch, who 
was and is most honored of any mere man since the 
creation of the world ; they had many times failed in 
their duty to God, who had punished them for their 
sins, and many times, on their repentance, had par- 
doned them for Abraham's sake; they had been 
favored by the Lord with special revelations of His 
will, which was their law T , which is believed to be, so 
far as relates to the first principles of moral conduct 
superior to that given to any other nation of ancient 
times ; and that part of it styled " the decalogue," or 
ten commandments, cannot be surpassed by the wisest 
legislators ; and it is certain that if its spirit could find 
just exemplification in the lives of all mankind, this 



THE UNTHANKFUL SUBJECTS. 83 

earth would be a happy world, and would need no other 
laws. This law was sometimes obeyed by the Israelites, 
when they were prosperous and happy, at other times 
they neglected the commandments of the Lord and 
suffered for it. When at last their Messiah came, who 
proved his claims by many wonderful works, and be- 
cause he seemed not to answer their expectations, they 
as a nation rejected him, since which time, in accord- 
ance with the predictions of that Messiah, [Jesus], they 
have been scattered all over the civilized world ; have 
lost their nationality, though they retain characteristics 
that are peculiar to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac 
and Jacob. God, by a special appointment, chose them 
to be the keepers of His written revelation to mankind, 
which they kept faithfully from generation to genera- 
tion, till the era of the Christian Dispensation ; and to 
descendants of Abraham we are indebted for the 
christian scriptures, which inform us more fully of the 
nature of the great marriage-feast which all who will 
accept the offers of the gospel are invited to partake. 

Why did these people act so unwisely ? The maker 
of the feast was of a sufficient dignity to command 
their respect, and His Son was . equal to His Father in 
all qualities that call for honor and gratitude, for He 
had made great sacrifices for their welfare ; they were 
the favored subjects of the King, and as such would 
naturally have been proud of the honor of being guests 
on so great an occasion. How could it have happened 
that they were so ready to excuse themselves from 
attendance at the marriage-feast in honor of the Prince, 
on such slight pretexts ; to treat His servants with in- 
sult, or with barbarity to so great a degree as to justify 
the King in visiting punishments due to murderers 
and rebels upon them? Plainly it was, in some cases, 
because they felt too proud of their own inferior 



84 THE UNTHANKFUL SUBJECTS. 

dignity to accept with satisfaction any favors from one 
of a higher degree; in others, because attendance at 
the feast would interfere with their own selfish plans ; 
in others, because they rebelled against the authority of 
the King, and were determined to resist His claims by 
all the means in their power, not considering that the 
invitation was prompted by generosity, and that His 
laws were their best security for peace and prosperity 
among themselves. They esteemed the everlasting 
rest typified by the feast, as less desirable than the 
short season of earthly pleasures, mixed as they were, 
with toil and anxiety and disappointments ; although 
they must have known that by thus manifesting their 
ingratitude they would displease a King from whom 
they received all that they had — even their being, and 
who delights in the welfare of the good and virtuous, 
though unalterably opposed to the wicked and vicious 
— yet willing to pardon sinners who repent them truly 
of their former sins, steadfastly purposing to lead a 
new life, have a lively faith in the King's mercy 
through the merits of the Prince, and be in charity 
with all men. 

God, as the King of the Universe, uses various 
agencies to accomplish his purposes, both in blessing 
His subjects when they are faithful, and in punishing 
them when they are rebellious. In the case of the 
Jews in Christ Jesus' time, He used the Roman 
armies to punish them for their rejection of the gospel; 
they destroyed Jerusalem about forty years after this 
parable was spoken by the Lord. 

The order to the servants to "go out into the 
highways and as many as ye shall find bid to the 
marriage/' likely refers to the offer made to the Gen- 
tiles to participate in the blessings of the gospel. Before 
this none but the descendants of Abraham through 



THE UNTHANKFUL SUBJECTS. 85 

Isaac and Jacob were considered as entitled to a full 
share in the blessings promised — though the gentiles 
were admitted to some of the privileges on becoming 
proselytes, they were debarred from having a share in 
the administration of the government, and also were 
not entitled to a share in the distribution of the land 
in the year of Jubilee. 

The servants are related to have succeeded in secur- 
ing a sufficient number of guests; it then became of 
interest to the King to see the guests, and He came in 
to scrutinize them — to see if they were all right. Did 
they appear cheerful, and thankful, and happy, and 
appreciative of the good will of the King ? Were there 
any who cherished a spirit of rebellion against the 
rules of the kingdom, or the authority of the Prince ? 
If so, they were not suitable guests for such an occasion. 

To make this King a proper representative of 
God, we must consider Him as having unlimited 
authority over the lives and conditions of his 
subjects; and when we consider this fact, we may 
readily perceive how very unreasonable and im- 
prudent were those who would not forego the usual 
labors of a day for the sake of conciliating His favor 
on whom they were so deeply dependent; and still 
more infatuated must they have been with the affairs 
of their every-day life, as well as jealous of any sus- 
pected attempt to interfere with their own selfish 
schemes, who could requite His goodness with insult 
and cruelty. 

There was one who evidently had taken no pains to 
appear in clothing suitable for the feast ; perhaps he 
had only the garb in which he did his ordinary work ; 
perhaps they were ragged and slovenly put on, indicat- 
ing that the man was wanting in a proper regard for 
the proprieties of the high festival, or even that he had 



86 THE UNTHANKFUL SUBJECTS. 

designed by his want of care to appear agreeable, to 
insult not only the King and the Prince, but the other 
guests also. If he had had a reasonable excuse very 
likely he would have given it when the King asked for 
one ; but he had none to give. This being the case, 
we may easily imagine the justice of the sentence pro- 
nounced by the King : 

" Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and 
cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping 
and gnashing of teeth. " 

These phrases of the parable may signify that those 
persons are liable to make a serious mistake who suppose 
that they can secure and enjoy the blessings of the gos- 
pel, reaching beyond death and the resurrection of the 
body, without a sincere love for Christ, a hearty repent- 
ance of sin, and a humble trust in the merits of the Savior, 
[the wedding garment,] for pardon, for they will be 
discovered, rendered helpless, so that no efforts of their 
own can be of any avail to save themselves, with no 
hope of relief from a sorrow so intense that the whole 
body and mind will be nerved up to a high degree of 
•excitement occasioned by the pangs of torment which 
they will suffer. 

The phrase " For many are called but few chosen," 
plainly indicates that the man spoken of represents a 
large majority of those invited. In view of this truth 
how careful should we be in judging ourselves as to 
our religious condition, lest we fail to make our 
" calling and election sure." 

Another remark may be added in relation to the 
care taken by the King that no one unworthy of the 
great occasion should be allowed to participate in the 
feast. It is by this care and oversight that the maker 
of the feast will secure a bride for His Son which will 
entail no disgrace upon His government. The Church, 



THE UNTHANKFUL SUBJECTS. 87 

in order to be a suitable bride for her Lord, must be 
purified from all that is sinful — past sins repented of 
and pardoned, and the righteousness of the Saints, who 
have washed their robes and made them white in the 
blood of the Lamb, [Rev. vii, 14,] typified by " fine 
linen, clean and white/' [Rev. xix, 8,] must cover her, 
so that her appearance shall be appropriate as a com- 
panion of one who is " glorious in holiness." 

In gaining the instruction which our Lord designed 
that we should receive from this parable, we may con- 
sider that the enjoyments which sincere christians will 
experience in the reflection that they are under the 
special care of an all-wise and all-powerful being, w T ho 
has authorized them to call Him by the endearing 
title of "Father," — and as a loving child rejoices in 
fulfiling the desires of its parents, so they are 
delighted with doing whatever is made known to 
them as their heavenly Father's will, even as Jesus 
gave them the precept: "My meat is to the will of 
Him that sent me ; [John iv, 34], and set them the 
example by going about doing good, both by teaching 
and healing; and on another occasion, He gave them 
a command, as a test — an outward and visible sign by 
which they could assure themselves that they possessed 
a true obedient spirit and grateful remembrance of His 
love for them — to make feast of bread and wine, in 
which act He assured them that He would be with 
them, as in some sense the bread and wine w r ould be 
His body and blood; [1 Cor. xi, 23 — 26.] Another 
quality of this feast is, that it is satisfying, and they 
who partake of it with a healthy spiritual appetite 
want nothing better — it being easy for them ' to be 
contented and do [their] duty in that state of life in 
which it hath pleased God to call [them.] " And still 
another quality of the gospel feast is, that it will never 



88 THE UNTHANKFUL SUBJECTS. 

end — it will strengthen and refresh God's children all 
through this life, and when they are called to rest 
from their earthly labors, they close their earthly 
visions with the blessed hope that they will be raised 
and " awake ... to everlasting life/ 7 [Dan. xii, 2,] 
while the same passage teaches that those who 
reject the invitation, or do not make suitable prepara- 
tions to appear at the feast, shall awake 

" to shame and everlasting contempt." 

How very profound and overpowering must be the 
intoxication with the common employments of the 
world, that affects those people who are continually 
seeking their highest enjoyments in the "things that 
perish with the using," [Col. ii, 22,] and which their 
bodies, ere long will be disqualified for enjoying; 
which induces them to neglect the means for preparing 
their souls for the employments and enjoyments of the 
heavenly state, which will never cease with those who 
are qualified to take pleasure in them. 



ARTICLE XVI 



The Faithful Servant, who may Become an Evil 
Servant. — Mark xiii, 34 ; Matt, xxiv, 45 — 51 ; 
Mark xiii, 35—37. 

I have the opinion of a learned commentator, that the 
passages above referred to are best to be read in the 
order noted above, as in that way a complete statement 
is made that refers to the same subject; and also for 
considering it as a warning to christian ministers. 

Mark xiii, 34 states that " the Son of man (meaning the 
Christ,) is as a man taking a far journey, who left his 
his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to 
every man his work, and commanded the porter to 
watch.' 7 Those having authority are understood to be 
the authorized teachers of the gospel, the porter or gate- 
keeper may mean one of them who had a special duty 
in regard to the others — a bishop perhaps. 

In Matt, xxiv, 45, the question is asked : " Who then 
is a faithful and wise servant " who will be entrusted 
with authority and duties respecting the others ? and 
in verse 26 is mentioned the privileges and honors 
which will be bestowed on him, if he finally be found 
faithful. This much in regard to the first part of the 
parable. 

But as these articles are designed to warn the reader 
against the influences which tend to evil doing, I will 
now pass to the examination of the latter part of the 
parable. 

In considering the 47th verse, I will suppose that the 
reputed "wise and faithful servant" has been successful 
in gaining the confidence of his Lord, and secured the 



90 THE EVIL SERVANT. 

appointment of overseer of all the others, and having 
entered upon his duties; yet there is still a perad- 
venture in the case, therefore Jesus intimates that he 
may become an "evil servant" by the significant word 
" but," which commences the 48th verse, and proceeds 
to state what he (the servant) may think, after waiting 
a long time : " My lord delayeth his coming" — perhaps 
he will never come ; and then carries the thought into 
action by severe and unwarranted behavior towards his 
inferiors, and takes and uses the goods entrusted to his 
care for his own selfish enjoyments, amounting, perhaps, 
to gluttony and intoxication ; then, it may be, that the 
porter, in the midst of the disorder and revelry occur- 
ing in the household, will relax his watchfulness, so that 
it will be quite certain that the return of the lord will 
be at a time when the servants were not expecting him, 
and in conditions of body and mind unprepared to 
receive the long-absent owner of the goods that have 
been put to such evil uses. 

Perhaps it may seem somewhat presumptuous for a 
layman to undertake to criticize the servants of the 
Lord; but on the reflection that it may be profitable to 
them to know how their sayings and doings appear from 
the laymen's stand-point, 1 am led to make my thoughts 
upon the subject public in the hope that our reverend 
teachers may, if they perceive that we have not learned 
their lessons correctly, see what our misconceptions are, 
and so be better qualified to give us the instructions we 
need. I may state further that I was, as it were, born 
into the ministerial fraternity, being the son of a cler- 
gyman and having another for my maternal grand- 
father, and still another for a great-great-grandfather ; 
and by counting back less than a dozen generations, I 
have learned that some of my ancestors were near rela- 
tives of one of the archbishops of Canterbury, the pri- 



THE EVIL SERVANT. 91 

mate (or chief minister) of the English Church ; and 
having been faithfully taught by my parents my duty 
to God and christian people, for which I cherish a grate- 
ful remembrance ; and I believe that I have, by God's 
assistance, not entirely failed in fulfiling the hopes of 
my parents and christian friends, though far from claim- 
ing perfection in the christian life. Under these cir- 
cumstances I hope to be believed when I assert that I 
have no prejudices against christian ministers. 

To the ordinary Christian, who only judges by what 
is observed at the present time, it may seem that the 
clergy of these times (especially those who preach the 
doctrines which any particular Christian supposes to be 
the true ones,) might be excepted from the liability to 
relapse into a condition in which they will care more 
for the pleasures of the world than for their religious 
duties ; yet when they examine further, and discover 
the various and conflicting opinions which the different 
classes of those who "profess and call themselves Christ- 
ians have of the ministers of others than those of their 
own sect, most religious people will concede that some 
of them must be in danger from that source. And if 
they study the past history of the christian religion, they 
will find that from the first, particularly since the time 
that the early persecutions ceased, that the clergy have 
been, are now and may be expected in the future to 
be subject to temptations to relax their watchings and 
indulge their prejudices and give way to their passions, 
which shows that the cautions which Jesus gave to His 
disciples was and is needed to secure even the bound 
servants of the Lord from losing the reward which is 
set before them as the* result of faithfulness in their 
high calling. 

The first step in a relaxation of the commanded 
watching is doubt in relation to the promises of God, 



92 THE EVIL SERVANT, 

expressed by the thought, " My Lord delayetli his com- 
ing." The servant becomes impatient of the long wait- 
ing, and as " hope deferred maketh the heart sick," he 
seeks relief from the monotony of the long vigils by 
studying how he may pass the time more agreeably 
than by continuing to discharge the duties which have 
been entrusted to him. If he continues in this state of 
mind it will not be long before he will be found using 
with more and more prodigality his Master's property 
that had been confided to him, with little or no regard 
to the directions enjoined upon him, and banishing 
from his thoughts all ideas of his responsibility and the 
certainty that he will be called to account for his neglect 
and the result of it. It may be expected that, from 
cherishing these thoughts he will soon proceed to words 
— using his authority over the other servants and direct- 
ing a new departure which will nullify the Lord's com- 
mands, and to actions, by engaging in employments 
contrary to all precedents established by the directions 
and customs of the Master, so much so that, when the 
Master does return, he will find every thing in the house 
in such a condition of disorder — so contrary to the sys- 
tem which He had established, that He will severely 
punish the wicked servant and banish him to the soci- 
ety of hypocrites ; and thus he will fail of the great 
reward, the contemplation of which will occasion a 
degree of disappointment which is aptly expressed by 
" weeping and gnashing of teeth." 

In the past ages, when has it not been(since the expira- 
tion of the first three hundred years of the christian era,) 
that some clergymen have not been ardent seekers for 
worldly honors, worldly wealth, worldly power and 
worldly pleasures ? — seeming to have taken little heed 
to the advice of Jesus' most faithful disciple : " Love 
not the world neither the things that are in the world." 



THE EVIL SERVANT. 93 

[I. John ii, 15.] Many, indeed, have given evidence 
by their lives, of a sincere desire to obey the directions 
given them in the scriptures ; but there have been nota- 
ble exceptions, which have shown that some of them 
have been more anxious to secure the applause of men 
than the favor of God. 

At the present time there seems to be many who 
claim to have been called by the Lord to be his ambass- 
adors, and whose claims are acknowledged as genuine by 
christian people, who appear anxious to be clothed in fine 
linen and fare sumptuously, instead of being careful to 
follow the example and teachings of Jesus : " Be not 
therefore anxious saying, what shall we eat or what shall 
we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed." [Matt, 
vi, 31 ; Revised version.] I find no fault with moder- 
ate efforts to secure comfortable food that will promote 
health, and raiment so as to appear agreeable to those 
with whom we associate, provided it is done without 
owing anything to any one ; but to seek after such things 
with the degree of anxiety that worldly men exhibit, 
betokens that a minister needs the warnings that his 
Master has given. 

And has it not in these days been often the case that 
ministers who have acquired a commanding position 
among their brethren, are disposed to be overbearing 
and inconsiderate of the feelings and convictions of their 
less prominent brethren, when they do not happen to 
agree with those who assume to be the leaders in their 
society ? and in so doing do they not violate the direct- 
ions which the Christ gave to His apostles ? [Mark x, 
42 — 44] ; and in the next verse He states the fact that 
his own example is a pattern for them to follow in their 
intercourse with each other. 

But I have not the space to pursue this course of 
remarks further ; and it seems to me unnecessary to do 



94 THE EVIL SERVANT. 

so, as I suppose our reverend brethren are able to add 
pertinent thoughts on the subject, and make applica- 
tions to themselves, with greater force than their hum- 
ble brother could, who takes the liberty to remind them 
that the great apostle to the Gentiles once expressed a 
fear for himself that, after preaching to others, he should 
be a castaway. [I. Cor. ix, 27.] 

I will next state what I suppose to be some of the 
characteristics of a christian minister which appear to 
me most likely to secure the confidence of the average 
laymen : 1st — Humility with a determination not to 
think of himself more highly than he ought to think ; 
2d — Studious, seeking to know the truth of God, as con- 
tained in the holy scriptures, striving to teach its most 
important truths faithfully, and at the same time care- 
fully abstaining from going beyond the teachings of 
the Christ ; 3d — Prayerful, for the aid of the Holy Spirit 
to guide his mind to a right understanding of his duty 
both to God and to the people of his charge ; 4th — A dis- 
position to conduct himself impartially toward his breth- 
ren of all degrees — not despising the poor nor truck- 
ling for the favor of the rich, and anxiously endeavor- 
ing to lead the rich, the poor, the learned and the ignor- 
ant to the knowledge of and obedience to God's will as 
made known in the gospels ; 5th — Contentment, not 
disposed to repine if worldly adversity is bis portion, 
showing the poor how to endure privation with christ- 
ian patience, nor unduly elated when temporal pros- 
perity comes to him, setting an example of liberality to 
the wealthy; 6th — Aptness to teach, not only in the 
sense of being able to make plain to ordinary minds the 
religious truths that seem to them difficult to compre- 
hend, but in the more common acceptation of the word 
" apt," a readiness to give instruction on every proper 
occasion, and seeking to make every occasion of meet- 



THE EVIL SERVANT. 95 

ing fellow-mortals who are in danger of losing their souls, 
a proper one to show what they should do to be saved ; 
7th — An earnest endeavor, as an assistant of the " good 
shepherd," to seek for the wandering and spiritually 
lost, and bring them into the fold (the church), as Jesus 
has assured us that "joy shall be in heaven over one 
sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety-and-nine 
just persons that need no repentance." [Luke xv, 7] ; 
8th — Keeping holy one-seventh part of the time, by 
adopting as a proper comment on the fourth command- 
ment, the 13th and 14th verses of the lviii. chapter of 
Isaiah ; 9th — A determination to obey the Lord's will 
(without waiting for a rich society to offer a bountiful 
salary,) by seeking to make the gospel known to the 
ignorant, and its restraining and elevating influences 
felt by those who are out of the way of salvation. 

The most notable example of a failure to secure the 
promised reward for faithfulness in christian duties was 
that of one of the disciples of Jesus whom He ordained 
by His own personal authority as an apostle, Judas 
Iscariot, w r ho from a lust of gain betrayed his Master, 
and has been a standing warning to bishops, presbyters 
and deacons, and indeed to all christians, that they use 
all diligence to continue the Christ's faithful soldiers 
and servants to their lives' end. 

In conclusion, I will emphasize the article by quoting 
the Lord's words : " Watch ye therefore, for ye know 

not when the Master cometh, .... 

lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping ; and what 
I sav unto you (the ministers), I say unto all (the peo- 
ple^ Watch." 



ARTICLE XVII 



The Rich Young Man.— Matt, xix, 16—24; Mark x, 

17—27; Luke xviii, 18—27. 

THE person who came to Jesus and asked the import- 
ant practical question : u What good thing shall I do, 
that I may have eternal life ? " appeared to have been 
sincere and earnest, and to have had, to a considerable 
degree, a just conception of the importance of eternal 
life. He seemed also, to have had a very great respect 
for Jesus, which he manifested by the lowly act of 
kneeling to Him in an act of worship. 

There is nothing to indicate that the young came 
with only the promptings of mere curiosity, to ascer- 
tain what Jesus would say upon the subject, in order 
to compare it with the teachings of the priests, who 
were the authorized expounders of the Levitical laws, 
and the scribes and Pharisees, who were supposed to 
be well instructed, both in the theory and practice of 
God's requirements ; but he appears to have come to 
our Lord with a feeling that he could receive from 
Him more definite and satisfactory instructions as to 
what was really necessary to be done in order to 
secure life eternal, than was to be learned from the 
common sources of instruction in the community in 
which he lived. 

The man was a ruler (probably of some synagogue,) 
in the coast of Judea beyond Jordan, therefore a little 
out from the center of religious influence, but yet near 
enough to be considerably influenced by it, and had 
some authority in the management of religious 
exercises on the Sabbath-days, perhaps similar to that 



THE RICH YOUNG MAN. 97 

now exercised by trustees, stewards and vestrymen in 
the religious societies of the present day. That being 
his position, we are warranted in believing that he 
was qualified to judge of the importance of securing a 
blessed life after the death of the body. 

Perhaps in estimating the importance which this 
man may have attached to this subject, we should con- 
sider what are the ideas w T hich the holy scriptures of 
the old testament give in regard to eternal life, and 
contrast it with what the same scriptures teach is to be 
the condition of those who fail to attain it, as he was 
familiar with their teachings. He had doubtless, 
learned from the book of Genesis (ii, 17) that God had 
threatened our first parents that in the day they dis- 
obeyed the one command which He gave them for a 
test of their love and gratitude, they should die ; he 
had learned that the threatened death was not the 
death of the body, and he may have been taught that 
what they suffered as a consequence of their transgres- 
sion was the loss of the favor of God, so that their 
condition was a state of continual suffering, and their 
experience was such as to show them that their " life 
was not worth living " — or as a marginal note explains, 
the original Hebrew is " dying thou shalt die/' — which 
may mean that the enjoyments of life which their souls 
and bodies were created to experience, would be denied 
them, and that they in reality should be dying while 
they lived in suffering, and at length it would end in 
a cessation of the life of the body ; he may have learned 
from the book of Daniel [xii, 2] that at a future time 
" many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth 
shall awake some to everlasting life, and some to shame 
and everlasting contempt." And as Jesus, before that 
time had preached the same doctrine [see John v, 28, 
29,] it may have been possible that the young man 



THE RICH YOUNG MAN. 



may have heard him, or had heard of his teaching on 
the subject. He may be supposed to have thought 
that the blessing of eternal life consisted of a never- 
ending existence of enjoyment, and that to be deprived 
of it was to be doomed to everlasting suffering ; there- 
fore we may perceive the reasons he had for anxiety, 
and for making earnest inquiry as to the best method 
of obtaining the one and avoiding the other. 

But notice the form in which he asks the question: 
" Good master [teacher,] what good thing shall I do," 
etc. He seems to have had the notion that by doing 
some one thing, perhaps by building a synagogue for 
some destitute locality or a hospital, or some specific 
beneficent act, he could, once for all, make sure of and 
fit himself for the enjoyment of the blessing he sought, 
and then go on selfishly using his remaining wealth 
without any further concern, doing, as it were, a work 
of such a supererogatious merit that future short- 
comings should be at least balanced by it. 

In order to show the young man what his real 
religious state was, Jesus enquires first, why he calls 
Him good, stating that, in the full sense of the word, 
God is the only one who is perfectly good ; and then 
with the very natural direction, he assures him that it 
is necessary to keep the commandments. Seeming not 
to comprehend that Jesus meant, he asked Him : 
" Which ? " thinking, perhaps, that some more intricate 
and less common laws than the decalogue may have 
been meant. But when he is informed that those old 
commandments were the rules by which his life was to 
be tested and his claim to eternal life made secure, he 
seemed to be in a measure relieved of his anxiety, and 
confidently asserted that he had kept them from his 
youth up, and then, with an almost triumphant air, he 
asked : " What lack I yet ? " The Master told him that 



THE RICH YOUNG MAN. 99 

something more is needed for him to do, that he may 
attain perfection, and in order to enable him to under- 
stand what was necessary, told him that, if he would 
sell his property for the benefit of the poor, he should 
" have treasure in heaven," and further directed that 
he should become His follower. This was a most 
astounding requirement to this young man ; though 
he does not seem to question Jesus' right to require it 
— it was as if he had said to him, (according to idea of 
a learned commentator,): " Thou sayest thou hast kept 
God's law. Then thou art willing to do it still. Let 
thy obedience be put to the proof. God's law says 
1 thou shalt have no other Gods but Me.' Hast thou 
no other god? Hast thou not made a god of thy 
riches? Is not covetousness idolatry? Go, and cast 
down this idol, then thou may est claim to obey at least 
one commandment. God, by his providence has 
given thee wealth; I, whom thou acknowledgest 
to be a teacher come from God, by His authority I 
instruct thee how to use it ; and further require thee 
to follow Me, and I will teach thee thy future duty." 

This seeker after eternal life seemed greatly disap- 
pointed — seemed to have set a greater value* on the 
wealth which he possessed, than on the privilege of an 
eternal existence of peace and joy, and so he went 
away sorrowing, because he was so intoxicated with the 
earthly pleasures which his great possessions seemed 
to promise him for a few years, that they out- weighed, 
in his estimation, the everlasting happiness for which 
he had seemingly been so anxious to secure. And 
what a contrast between them ! — never-ending joys 
without alloy on the one hand, and on the other a 
short period of pleasure mixed with much anxiety and 
disappointment, to be followed by everlasting shame 
and contempt. 



100 THE RICH YOUNG MAN. 

It might be interesting to contemplate the probabilites 
of this man's future career, if he had followed Jesus' 
direction and become his disciple. He was evidently 
a well educated man, and a man of activity and energy, 
and also of such a character that Jesus loved him ; and 
if he had accompanied the Redeemer, during the 
remainder of His earthly life, heard His instructions 
and witnessed His miracles, and though he might 
have been discouraged, (as were all the apostles,) at His 
crucifixion and death, he would doubtless have been 
re-assured by the resurrection, subsequent teachings and 
and ascension, he might, as he would have had 
superior advantages to St. Paul, in the earthly instruct- 
ions of the Great Teacher, both before and after the 
the resurrection, have become as efficient a promoter of 
Christianity as was that great apostle, — if not more so, 
and therefore have received the gratitude and admira- 
tion of the good and great of the Church since that 
time, as well as the blessing and favor of Him who has 
promised those who are " faithful unto death "... 
a crown of life/' [Rev. ii, 10.] But now he is only 
remembered as the rich young man who declined the 
call of Jesus to a great and glorious career in this life, 
and through that failure to do his duty probably lost 
the prize for which he had been so earnestly seeking, 
through the " deceitfulness of riches/' [Matt, xiii, 22.] 

Very pertinent and thrilling must have been the 
remarks of the Savior: "How hard is it for them 
that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God, 
etc. [Mark x, 24, 25.] And in the 29th and 30th 
verses assures His disciples that " There is no man that 
hath left house, or brethren, and sisters, or father or 
mother, or wife or children and lands for my sake and 
the gospel's, but shall receive a hundred fold now in 



THE RICH YOUNG MAN. 101 

this time, with persecutions ; and in 

the world to come eternal life." 

King Saul in his whole public career is a case where a 
very promising beginning, by repeated violations of 
God's commands, brought upon himself trouble and 
disaster, occasioned by the withdrawal of the favor of 
God. I Sam. x, 25 — 26 give an account of his pros- 
perous beginning, xii., 5 — 15 make known the terms 
upon which continued prosperity w r as to be expected, 
xiii, 5 — 16 relates the beginning of his troubles. 
The xv chapter gives an instance of his disobedience, 
xviii, 7, shows the awakening of a wicked jealousy; 
and the chapters that follow to the xxxist contain the 
accounts of the numerous exhibitions of that jealousy ; 
and the xxxist tells of his final overthrow. 

A Rt. Reverend commentator on II Tim. iv, 5, says : 
"Evangelists did not form a separate order of the 
ministry. Eusebius speaks of large numbers of the 
early believers : c They first fulfilled the saving 
injunction, in distributing their goods to the poor, then 
traveling abroad they fulfiled the work of Evan- 
gelists, being ambitious to preach Christ to those who 
had never heard of Him, and to deliver to them the 
text of the Holy Gospel.' — [Eusebius iii, 37.] So now 
a layman does not go beyond his measure in preaching 
the Gospel of Christ. What he may not do is to assume 
to administer the Sacraments." 



ARTICLE XVIII. 



The Two Sons.— Matt, xxi, 28—31. 

PERHAPS there is no feeling more generally indulged 
in by youthful minds, than that their parents are 
disposed to be unreasonably strict with them in their 
demands, both in respect to the restrictions which they 
impose on the pastimes and desires of their young 
hearts, but also respecting those employments which 
conduce to the welfare of the family, and in which 
they may reasonably expect to share with the rest of 
the household. They too often regard anything that 
they do in obedience to the commands of their parents 
as a sort of supererogatory work, which by strict 
justice they are under no obligations to perform. 
They are apt to lose sight of the fact that, to their 
parents, under God, they owe their life, their present 
comforts and their future well-being, and that, there- 
fore, when they have done all that they can do for 
their father and mother during their legal min- 
ority, they are still indebted to them. The writer 
remembers that, more than sixty years ago, he over- 
heard his mother make the remark, " the only way 
that children can pay for their own bringing up, is to 
bring up children themselves ;" and my own experi- 
ence fully justifies the sentiment. 

It is surely a fact that parents are under most sacred 
obligations to do all they can to prepare their children 
for a useful and successful life — see to it that their phys- 
ical constitution is placed on as good a foundation as 
may be, and to correct as far as possible any hereditary 
imperfections they may have transmitted to them ; to 



THE TWO SONS. 103 

take care that their intellectual, moral and religious 
training is such as to best fit them to perform the 
duties which may devolve upon them toward the suc- 
ceeding generation ; and to be always ready to give 
them the best advice their own experience enables 
them to impart, in any circumstances in w T hich their 
children may be unable to decide for themselves as to 
the wisest course to pursue. 

But these obligations do not in the least modify or 
impair the duty of children "to love, honor and succor 
their father and mother," unless such parents have 
been criminally negligent of the duties which God has 
enjoined upon them. In fact the obligations of the 
parents in regard to their children only intensifies the 
duty of the children to give an implicit obedience to 
the requirements of a father or mother. 

The parable of the two sons, which Jesus spake, was 
evidently intended to rebuke the leaders of the Jewish 
people lor their opposition to Him and His doctrines, 
and to encourage those of the disreputable classes of 
the people who repented of their sins and believed and 
obeyed the gospel. I design in this article to pass over 
this branch of the subject with but short allusions, 
remarking that the class of people existing at the 
present time to whom the rebuke may apply, are those 
who make loud professions of willingness to work in 
the vineyard of the Lord (the Christian Church); are 
reasonably attentive to the public services of religion ; 
but when called upon to make self-denying efforts 
for the spread of the gospel, are found to be negligent 
of their duty in regard to others, and slack in the 
private exercises of repentance and faith toward God 
and love to mankind for the Lord's sake. And those 
may be encouraged by it, who, while they sincerely 
acknowledge themselves to be miserable sinners, do 



104 THE TWO SONS. 

works meet for repentance, and show, by their actions, 
that they thankfully accept the grace of God, and 
obediently keep His holy will and commandments. 

But the main object of this article is to enforce the 
duty of minor children to obey their parents in all 
things that do not conflict with their duties to God — 
that is, if a parent should command a child to pay 
divine honors to a heathen god, or to bow down and 
worship an image or likeness, or take the name of God 
in vain, or do unnecessary work on the day set apart 
for rest and religious worship, or commit a murder, or 
adultery, or steal, or tell a lie, or wish so much for 
what belongs to another that he or she would be 
willing to take unlawful means to get it, or do any 
other act plainly contrary to the laws of God, — in 
those cases it would be no violation of the fifth com- 
mandment to decline to do the parents bidding; the 
children would thereby show that they were actuated 
by the high religious principle of obedience to the 
highest authority. But the refusal of obedience should 
be made in respectful language, and with sorrow that 
they have been asked to do anything contrary to God's 
laws. 

The parable supposes that a father says to a son • 
"son, go work to-day in my vineyard." But the son, 
probably feeling that his father's command so seriously 
interfered with his own plans for the day that, in his 
disappointment he impetuously dissents, by plainly 
declaring : " I will not." But after reflection on the 
matter, he concludes that he has done wrong in 
refusing to obey his father, he changes his mind, and 
by his actions shows his repentance and obedience; for 
although the refusal was a highly reprehensible insult 
to his father, his after-obedience in a grea-t measure 
atoned for it so much so that the father was, perhaps, 



THE TWO SONS. 105 

as much gratified with his behavior, as if he had at the 
first consented and then performed his duty in the 
matter. 

But the father has another son to whom he makes 
the same command, and from him receives a ready 
reply of: "I go sir/' but he did not go. It may be 
that many times, a boy who makes such a ready aquies- 
ence to his parent's command, intends to fulfill his 
promise, but after temptations — opportunities for 
pleasurable enjoyments occur, and trusting to his 
parent's clemency he violates his promise, and thus 
incurs a deeper guilt than he would, had he at first 
declined to obey — not only failing to obey the com- 
mand, but failing to keep his engagement. And on 
other occasions a child may make such a promise 
while not intending to fulfill it ; in such a case the 
child acts the hypocrite in the first instance and in the 
last falsifies his word, both of which sins are of a deeper 
degree of heinousness than either of the two previously 
supposed cases. The teaching of the parable is that 
the son first mentioned was the least sinner against his 
father. 

Bearing on this subject, I think I cannot do better 
than to make an extract from a book entitled : " The 
New Whole Duty of Man," written probably over 200 
years ago, which descended to my family from three 
previous generations of the ancestors of my wife, and 
is now in the keeping of the fifth generation. I copy 
from the 21st edition, printed in 1770. On the 201st 
page may be read : 

" The next duty that children owe to their parents is 
Obedience. Children obey your parents in the Lord ; 
for this is right and well-pleasing, unto the Lord. 
This is a certain principle : while children want under- 
standing to direct their choice and will, they should 



106 THE TWO SONS. 

have no will but that of their parents ; and therefore 
should obey, till arrived at more sound judgment. 
Parents must be allowed to discern what is most proper 
for their children ; and though they be now and then 
mistaken yet it is always safest to follow their com- 
mands and instructions whose main end and purpose 
is to do them good. Nothing can be plainer, than that 
parents love their children dearly and without design,, 
and are older, wiser and more experienced, and the 
fittest to command and to be obeyed by their children ;. 
and for this reason God, to show how fit it is to obey 
our parents," calls himself our Father, and from that 
relation calls for our obedience likewise. Let then 
stubborn, headstrong children consider the ties they 
have to be obedient to their parents, and they will find 
both pleasure and security in being so ; the approba- 
tion of all, and the blessing of God goes with it; 
whereas nothing but trouble of mind, sorrow, shame,, 
infamy and the displeasure of Almighty God, attend 
disobedience to their good and wholesome commands. 
But, if the command of a parent is to do evil, or requires 
a child to lie, or steal, or to do any other act by which 
the laws of God are broken, he must prefer his duty to 
God ; for we must obey God rather than man." 

That it may be seen how the Lord regarded, (and of 
course still regards,) disobedience to parents, I will 
quote a few passages: "And he that curseth his 
father and his mother, shall surely be put to death." 
[Exod. xxi, 17.] Heathen nations in ancient times 
conceded to parents the rights to take the lives of their 
children ; but to the children of Israel God allowed it 
only after formal trial and condemnation by the civil 
authority, on complaint of the father and mother. 
[See Deut. xxi, 18 — 21 ; also xxvii, 16.] 

Read what Jesus said to those who found fault with 



THE TWO SONS. 107 

Him and His disciples, because they neglected some 
ceremonial observances which they held by traditions : 
" Why do you also transgress the commandment of 
God, by your tradition ? For God commanded, saying : 
Honor thy father and mother; and he that curseth his 
father or mother, let him die the death, but ye say, 
Whoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a 
gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; 
and honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free; 
Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none 
effect by your tradition." — [Matt, xv, 3 — 6,] and the 
same lesson is taught in Mark vii, 9 — 13. 

Turn now to a more cheerful passage, which is both 
a command and a promise: " Honor thy father and 
thy mother : that thy days may be long upon the land, 
which the Lord thy God giveth thee" — [Exod. xx, 12.] 

A case in bible history which illustrates the evil of 
disobedience of children to parents, was the sons of Eli, 
the high priest, whose position was such that, had he 
lived in modern times, he would be stvled the primate 
of Israel; [see I Samuel ii, 22— 25; 27—34; iii,10— 14; 
iv, 12—22.] 

We may with profit contrast the history of the sons 
of Eli with that of the great boy-preacher Samuel ; he 
was a remarkably obedient boy, whose first sermon may 
be found in the first book of Samuel, iii, 11 — 14 ; and 
he was immediately recognized as a prophet of the 
Lord by the people of the whole nation. In after life 
he became the chief Judge and administrator of the 
laws of God, and as such was entitled to as much 
respect as the greatest doctor of divinity and doctor of 
laws of these days. 



ARTICLE XIX. 



The Wicked Husbandmen. — Matt, xxi, 33 — 44; 
Mark xii, 1 — 11 ; Luke xx, 9—18. 

THIS parable was intended to reprove the rulers of the 
nation of Israel for their failure to pay the appointed 
rental to the Lord, for the use of the privileges and 
fruits of the vineyard, meaning by it, the observance of 
the acts of worship prescribed by the Levitical laws, and 
a tenth of the income of the people to be devoted to the 
religious institutions of the country. Jesus charges 
them with persecuting the faithful preachers which 
God had sent to warn them of the consequences of their 
unfaithfulness, and urge them to the performance of 
their duties, and informs them that they may expect 
that He will take the vineyard from them and give it 
to another nation — even as they had judged that the 
householder, "the lord of the vineyard .... will 
miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out 
his vineyard to other husbandmen which shall render 
him the fruits in their season." 

It is often the case in the affairs of this life that per- 
sons become so intoxicated with desires to keep what 
they have in possession, that they will by bold schem- 
ing make attempts to retain what rightfully belongs to 
others, but are frustrated by some miscarriage of their 
Dlans, and they find that even in dealings with their fel- 
ows, they are not able to succeed in their attempts, and 
'. ike the husbandmen of the parable, they discover that 
they have miserably failed, and instead of succeeding in 
their schemes find themselves deprived of the hopes that 
they might reasonably have expected had they honestly 
fulfilled their obligations. How much greater must be the 



THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN. 109 

degree of infatuation or intoxication which those are 
possessed by, who fancy that they can withhold from 
the God of the Universe His rightful claims, for the use 
of the privileges which He is continually bestowing 
upon them, and yet escape in the final judgment, the 
penalties he has declared in the bible that He will visit 
upon those who are ungrateful for His gifts, disobey 
His commandments and deny His authority. 

In the gradual manner, by slow degrees, by which 
our minds are opened to terrestrial things, we do not as 
fully appreciate what God has prepared for us in the 
arrangements by which we are surrounded, as we may 
suppose that Adam and Eve may have been able to 
have done, when, possessed of the full strength of body 
and mind they found themselves in the garden of Eden, 
as with pure and holy thoughts they surveyed the 
beauty which they saw about them, and experienced 
the convenient arrangements which God had made for 
their sustenance and pleasure and employment. They 
saw the delicious fruits upon the trees, they perceived the 
aromatic flavors of the flowers and the vegetation which 
covered the vines — all beautiful to the sight, all delight- 
ful to the smell, all pleasant to the taste ; every thing 
in its primeval freshness and vigor of growth — nothing 
wilted, withered or dead ; surely the gratitude which 
must have filled their hearts for so bountiful and luxu- 
rious provisions for their comfort and happiness, would 
have overflowed in acts of worship and adoration, in 
resolutions of obedience, and expressions of astonishment 
and admiration. 

In the case of Adam's and Eve's descendants, the 
knowledge comes to us so gradually, through the imper- 
fections of vision, the failure to apprehend them and 
the inability to comprehend them, until many years of 
experience enables us to get a partial knowledge of what 



110 THE WICKED HUSBAJSTDMEN. 

the Lord has provided, and is providing for us ; and 
then, too, so many of these things appear to us to be 
produced and arranged by ourselves, that we are very 
liable to forget that our powers to plan and perform and 
to appreciate and enjoy come from our Creator and Pre- 
server, so that in strictness of speech they may be said 
to be his gifts, while we are but the instruments by 
which he supplies them to us and to our children. 

We shall better understand what our Lord meant, if 
we refer to the original law which He charged the Jews 
with violating, which is as follows : "And all the tithe 
of the land whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit 
of the tree, is the Lord's; it is holy unto the Lord." 
[Leviticus xxvii, 30. The directions as to how it was 
to be observed may be found in Deuteronomy xii, 5 — 14 ; 
and in I. Chronicles, xxiii, 27 — 32. 

The prophets of old whom the Lord sent to remind 
His chosen people of their duties, were not negligent in 
giving instructions on both the subjects of worship and 
tithes, as may be seen from the following passages: 
"The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to her 
solemn feasts ; all her gates are desolate ; her priests sigh, 
her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness. Her 
adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper ; for the 
Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her trans- 
gressions ; her children are gone into captivity before 
the enemy. And from the daughter of Zion all her 
beauty is departed ; her princes are become like harts 
that find no pasture, and they are gone without strength 
before the pursuer. Jerusalem remembered in the days 
of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant 
things in the days of old, when her people fell into the 
hand of the enemy, and none did help her ; the adver- 
saries saw her and did mock at her sabbaths. [Lament- 
ations of Jeremiah i, 4 — 7.] 



THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN. Ill 

Another prophet, speaking in the name of the Lord, 
said to another generation 200 years later : " Even from 
the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine 
ordinances and have not kept them. Return unto me 
and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of Hosts. . . . 
Ye are cursed with a curse ; for ye have robbed Me, even 
this whole nation." He then makes gracious promises 
conditioned upon their return to their duty, as follows: 
" Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there 
may be meat in My house, and prove Me now herewith, 
saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the win- 
dows of Heaven and pour you out a blessing, there shall 
not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the 
devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the 
fruits of your ground ; neither shall your vine cast her 
fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of Hosts. 
And all nations shall call you blessed; for ye shall be 
-a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts." [Malachi 
iii, 7, 9—12.] 

As to the proportion of time and product which the 
laws of Moses enjoined, can one seventh part of our 
time be an unreasonable amount to be devoted to the 
honor and glory of the Being from whom we derive our 
bodies and souls, our mental and moral endowments, 
our health and comforts, when it is so evident that the 
rest from physical labor which results from it is really 
a benefit to us physically, morally and religously ? and 
as to the proportion of the increase which we derive 
from God's gifts, is not a tenth a proper amount to be 
set apart for the compensation of those whom He en- 
trusts the carrying on of the work of extending the 
knowledge of His name, the revelation of His character 
and the supremacy of His laws, when these services 
afford the best security for the truest happiness while 
this life lasts, and the greatest assurance that the future 



112 THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN. 

life of those who love and obey the Lord, will be restful, 
joyous and everlasting ? 

Perhaps we may, in the light of the subsequent his- 
tory, both of the Children of Israel and the Disciples of 
Christ, assume that Jesus meant that the privileges of 
the vineyard should be given to all of every nation 
who should become His true followers. It is very evi- 
dent that, since that time, the nations that have had 
the chief controling influence among civilized peoples 
have been christian nations, while the Children of Israel 
have been scattered into various countries of the world. 

Had the Jews as a people, after the resurrection and 
ascension of Jesus, become convinced, as was their Gov- 
ernor Pilate, that He was without fault, and many of 
their notable men, that He was their promised Messiah, 
and had accepted His atonement for their sins and fol- 
lowed His teachings, would not their subsequent history 
have been far different from what it has been ? It is 
reasonable to suppose that they would have been obedi- 
ent to the temporal rule of the Romans and so escaped 
the destruction of their temple and their city ; that they 
would have cherished in their hearts a love for all man- 
kind — even their enemies, doing good to those who 
hated them, and praying for those who persecuted them, 
and proving that they were the children of Him who 
"maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good and 
sendeth rain on the just and the unjust." [Matt, v, 44, 
45.] Had they done this it is probable that they would 
have remained in undisturbed possession of their own 
land, would have won the love of the Gentiles, and in 
process of time the City of Jerusalem would have been 
the capital of the christian world. Indeed, it has been 
the ambition of many christian nations to gain possess- 
ion of the land given by the Lord to Abraham and his 
seed, in order that it might be inhabited by a people 



THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN. 113 

who would obey the ten commandments given on 
Mount Sinai to Moses, and the land where Jesus taught 
His Gospel and performed His mighty works. 

Let us who acknowledge ourselves to be the bond-serv- 
ants of Jesus, examine the habits of our lives, whether 
we faithfully spend a seventh part of our time in acts of 
holy worship and holy living — not as an unpleasant 
task but as a loving service ; and do w r e devote a tenth 
of our income to the maintaining and enlarging Christ's 
kingdom on the earth ? 

St. Paul declares to the Corinthians, [I Cor. vi, 19, 20] : 
" Ye are not your own ; for ye are bought with a price ; 
therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit 
which are God's." And the same apostle, who as Saul the 
Israelite was a most zealous maintainer of the Mosaic ob- 
servances, but as Paul the Christian he preached the gos- 
pel earnestly, and warned the Christians at Rome,(I quote 
from the revised version,) : " God did not cast off His 
people which He foreknew. Or wot ye not what the 
scripture saith of Elijah? how he pleadeth w T ith God 
against Israel; Lord they have killed Thy prophets, they 
have digged down thine altars : and I am left alone, 
and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of 
God unto him? I have left for myself seven thousand 
men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal. Even so, 
at this present time also, there is a remnant according 

to the election of grace By their unbelief 

they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be 
not highminded but fear ; for if God spared not the 
natural branches, neither will He. spare thee. Behold 
then the goodness and severity of God; towards them 
that fell severity; but toward thee goodness, if thou con- 
tinue in His goodness ; otherwise thou also shalt be cut 
off— [Rom. xi, 2—5, 20—22. 

This is true of Christians of all times, and every- 
where. It is of the greatest importance that we care- 



114 THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN. 

fully ponder these truths. American Christians should 
heed these warnings for they are no more likely to 
escape the destiny of being broken off than were the 
Israelites for their unbelief, nor than were the Romans, 
if they failed in their duty to God, of being cut off. 

God, in His dealings with mankind, treats them 
according their faith or lack of it — those who trust in 
Him and show it by obedience, will find that He is 
merciful and gracious ; but those who despise Him and 
hate His laws and oppose his sincere worshippers, or 
seek by artifice to draw His disciples from their allegi- 
ance to Him, will find that in the end, their plans for 
robbing God of his righteous demands will miserably 
fail, and that others will succeed to the enjoyment of 
the blessings of His vineyard (the Church), who will be 
more faithful in making proper returns for the bless- 
ings which He bestows upon them. 

In the allusions which Jesus made to the rejected 
corner stone, He is understood to teach that those 'who 
reject him will be disappointed in their best prospects in 
this life, and at the resurrection, the finally impenitent 
will experience, in the sentence of the Judge, a grinding 
to powder, as it were, of their hopes, w T hich until that 
time they may have cherished, of final happiness. 

Since writing the foregoing I have seen a comment 
on the last-mentioned passage which I copy, as follows : 
" The meaning is: This great and general revelation 
of the will God, by the Messiah, being the last discovery 
that He will ever make to mankind; whoever shall 
stumble and be offended at any part of it, or behave 
himself in any manner unworthy of it, shall be severely 
punished. But he that shall utterly and finally reject 
it, or behave himself so as to deserve the utmost effect 
of the wrath which it reveals and brings along with it, 
shall be miserably and utterly destroyed." 

UOyley and Mantis Commentary, American edition . 



ARTICLE XX 



The Unsympathetic Neighbors. Luke xiv, 16 — 24. 

AN invitation to an entertainment or festival is usually 
thought to be a matter of considerable importance both 
by the inviters and the invited — by the inviters, lest 
they should omit some whom they ought to invite, or 
invite some who would be regarded as unworthy to 
associate with their friends; and by the candidates for 
invitations, lest they should be forgotten or passed over 
by those whom they regard as only equals, and there- 
fore think themselves entitled to an invitation by the 
ordinary rules of social etiquette ; and if by any cause 
an expected one fails to be received, it is the occasion of 
much disappointment, and it may be of heart-burn- 
ings and future estrangements. 

I next present another parable spoken by Jesus. 
The title of the parable is : " The Great Supper." 
The maker of the supper is a man, — probably the 
principal man of the vicinity. In previous remarks 
[verses 12 — 14] Jesus had been teaching that Christians 
should not invite their personal friends and rich 
neighbors, to their festal entertainments, but in an 
unselfish manner call the poor, the maimed, the lame 
and the blind, and they would be blessed of God ; and 
at the resurrection of the just their recompense would 
be received from a higher source, and at a time when 
it would be beyond the power of their equals m society 
to do them any good. 

The statement that the supper was " great 77 indicates 
that it was something more than an ordinary evening 
repast — enough to satisfy the requirements of the body 



116 THE UNSYMPATHETIC NEIGHBORS. 

after the labors of the day; but was furnished in great 
profusion with a great variety of rare and costly 
viands and beverages, calculated to tempt the appetite 
to unwonted indulgence. The invitations were num- 
erous, and probably included all persons of any notor- 
iety in the community — land-holders, merchants, man- 
ufacturers, professional men, capitalists and officers of 
the government; in fine, a very select class of persons. 
We may readily conceive what cause the host had for 
being offended when they all declined his hospitality. 
He doubtless felt very much chagrined by the covert 
insults which their behavior implied. 

The parable sets forth very defiuitely the excuses 
which men make for neglecting the gospel. 

We notice that there is an apparent show of civility 
by the apologetic excuses that were given, and we may 
consider the three excuses as only samples of a larger 
number. The first said "I have bought a field and 
must needs go out and see it ; " he may have been a 
young man just commencing life and making his first 
effort to secure a homestead. The second may have 
been a little farther advanced having secured a farm 
and was making preparations to cultivate it; and so 
he must test the capabilities of his ten oxen. The 
third had probably obtained a home, and was making 
the crowning effort of his ambition by introducing his 
wife to the home he had prepared. But, whatever 
their condition may have been, they are all agreed in 
slighting the civilities of their rich neighbor, and so 
lost the aid that would have resulted from his friend- 
ship. 

When it became certain that the people who had 
been invited declined the honor of being guests on the 
occasion, the host made a sudden resolve that he 
would not be frustrated in his designed hospitality, and 



THE UNSYMPATHETIC NEIGHBORS. 117 

so he sent Ins servant out into the streets and lanes to 
bring in another class of people who would be sure to 
come, and who would appreciate the honor of an invi- 
tation, and were in. a condition to enjoy the good 
things provided by the generous citizen ; and when it 
was discovered that there was room for more, the 
servant was sent out into the highways and hedges to 
induce all he found to come and enjoy the supper. 

By this time, we may suppose the master of the house 
had overcome his feelings of chagrin and disappoint- 
ment, and was taking an interest in learning the 
circumstances of his new guests, and giving them 
profitable advice as to their future conduct, perhaps 
promising future aid to those who were worthy and 
were in need of assistance ; while the guests were 
cheering each other and their entertainer with their 
manifestations of sociability, comfort and gratitude. 
It would be natural to imagine that after such a supper 
was over, such guests would not be disposed to criticize 
it, or the deportment of their host, or make compari- 
sons of his treatment of one over the others ; and in 
the after meetings, with him, their manifestations of 
respect and honor toward him w r ould be likely to be 
marked, by greater sincerity and reverence. The man 
himself might discover that he had new sources of 
happiness in ministering to the wants of his poor 
neighbors, and witnessing the improvements in their 
comfort which his beneficence and counsel enabled 
them to enjoy with thankfulness. 

Many who think it wise to neglect the warnings and 
invitations of the servants of the Lord till they have 
acquired a certain degree of worldly success, seem to 
be unaware of the well-proved fact that religious duties 
and thoughts, interspersed with lawful, w r orldly avoca- 
tions, will serve to cheer their lives, by lessening the 



118 THE UNSYMPATHETIC NEIGHBORS. 

disagreeable effects of disappointments, and even 
render welcome the approach of the sleep of death, 
which may truly be regarded as a messenger to sum- 
mon true Christians away from the toils and trials of 
mortality, to enter upon the rest that remaineth for 
the people of God. 

See also [Matt, vi, 31 — 33.] Christ's instruction on 
this point in the greatest sermon ever preached. 



ARTICLE XXI 



The Foolish Virgins. — Matt, xxv, 1 — 13. 

THE parable of the wise and foolish virgins, is one in 
which Jesus makes a comparison between those who 
are careful to provide for the future of their religious 
experience, and those who merely act upon the 
impulses at the time presented to their minds. 

As this article is mainly designed to impress upon 
the reader the unwisdom of possessing the character 
represented by the foolish virgins, I shall have little 
to remark about the wise ones. 

Of the word "Fool/' from which the adjective foolish 
is derived, there have been four different significations 
given : 1. A person destitute of reason — an idiot, etc.; 
persons of this class are not held to be accountable for 
their actions ; 2. Persons deficient in judgment or who 
act contrary to the dictates of wisdom — the class to 
which the foolish virgins belong ; they not being wicked 
or vicious, but not careful for the future, and neglecting 
to make provision for the possible necessities of a 
coming emergency ; 3. One who acts contrary to moral 
and religious wisdom — a wicked person ; 4. One who 
counterfeits folly — a professional jester. 

An examination of the preceding chapter will show 
that it contains Jesus' answer to the question of the 
disciples : " What shall be the sign of thy coming and 
the end of the world?" and this chapter commences 
with the word "then," which indicates that it is a 
continuation of the same discourse upon what may be 
expected at the end of the world. 

The ten virgins represent all christians who are 
expecting the second coming of Christ — the bride- 
groom ; they all took their lamps well filled with oil, 



120 THE FOOLISH VIRGINS. 

which they probably thought would last till the time 
the bridegroom was expected to meet them. But, as it 
often happens, previous calculations by those who do 
not know all the circumstances attending a festal 
occasion, were not realized by the event, and the delay 
was prolonged beyond all the expectations of these 
girls; they became tired of waiting while the bride- 
groom tarried; they sat down by the w r ayside and 
finally fell asleep. This sleep is supposed to represent 
the sleep of death,* which all must experience, except 
those who may be alive at the second coming of Christ, 
who, we are informed, will be changed from natural 
bodies to spiritual bodies, in " the twinkling of an eye 
at the last trump." — [I. Cor. xv, 51, 52.] 

The oil in the vessels represents good works which 

* The foregoing opinion of what is signified by the sleep of 
the virgins, is the one that seems most satisfactory to my 
mind, keeping in view that it is part of the answer to the ques- 
tion as to what will take place at the "end of the world." 
The following is the opinion which I relied upon : 

" 'They all slumbered and slept.' To understand this of growing" care- 
less (as some do) f seems to destroy, or at least greatly weaken the force of 
the parable, which lies in the fact that, while some did grow careless, the 
others continued in readiness to the end. It is better to understand this 
verse as describing the falling: asleep one after another of wise and foolish 
alike in the sleep of death. It thus teaches that, as our state of prepara- 
tion is when we fall asleep in death, so will it be when we awake at the 
resurrection."— itt. Rev. Dr. How, Bishop of Bedford, England. 

The two following- extracts seem not to disagree with Dr. How, though 
they do not state so definitely what the sleep signifies : 

44 The sleep of all the virgins is alike necessary to the imag-ery of the 
parable. The bridegroom is to come suddenly and without notice to all. 
The watchfulness of the wise virgins consisted not in know- 
ing when the bridegroom was coming- but in being prepared when He 
came suddenly."— Canon Cook, of Exeter, England. 

" Neither is the jailing asleep of the virgins intended to be specially 
significant ; for a oq it happened in the case of the exemplary wise as well, it 
cannot represent any moral short-coming."— R. A. W, Meyer, Th. D., Ger- 
many. 

+ The following- passage is from an old preacher (1680) who had a differ- 
ent opinion. 

. . . . " They all slumbered and slept— this did the wise virgins as 
well as the foolish. Thus, too often, even the best and most considerate sort 
of Christians are not so watchful as they ought to be, to prepare for death 
and judgment."— Rt. Rev. Dr. Tillotson, Archbishop of Canterbury, England. 



THE FOOLISH VIRGINS. 121 

are the results of repentance towards God and faith in 
the Lord Jesus, through whose merits, past sins are 
forgiven, and by the aid of the Holy Ghost the 
christian graces of love, joy, peace, long-suffering, 
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, are 
cherished and practised. 

When the summons came that the bridegroom was 
coming, the foolish virgins discovered that their lamps 
burned with only a flickering light indicating that the 
oil was gone. The words translated " are gone out ? 
are more literally rendered " are going out." [See 
Revised Version.] In their extremity they apply to the 
wise virgins for a portion of their oil, but the wise 
ones, in their fears lest they should need all they had, 
declined; by this statement, Jesus is understood to 
teach us that we cannot safely rely upon the virtues 
of others to supply our own lack of preparation for an 
admission to the marriage feast of the Son of God, but 
that the only preparation that will avail us will be a 
love for and a practise of holiness in the heart. 

Perhaps the difference between Christians who are 
represented by the wise virgins and those represented 
by the foolish ones, may be : the one is really devout 
in heart — striving to conform their lives, both inwardly 
and outwardly — in thoughts, desires and actions, to the 
rules of God's commandments — giving up their own 
wishes whenever they come in conflict with what 
they believe to be God's w r ill ; while the other are only 
religious in outward appearance, conforming to the 
customs of religious society, mainly for the standing 
they expect it will give them in their earthly relations 
— with no real love for that holiness of heart which is 
necessary to enjoy the presence of God and the Christ 
of God, and of the holy angels and of the people whom 
God has sanctified and made holv. 



122 THE FOOLISH VIRGINS. 

If the foregoing interpretations are correct, are not 
many "who profess and call themselves Christians" 
in great danger of discovering, too late, that when 
their bodies are awakened to life at the coming of 
Christ at. "the end of the world/ 7 they will be unpre- 
pared to join the procession Tvhich is to accompany the 
bridegroom to the marriage supper of the Lamb. 

What is the cause of the mistake which those pro- 
fessed Christians make who are represented by the 
foolish virgins ? Evidently, they think so much of the 
pleasures and employments and riches of the world, 
that they come to a conclusion in their own minds, 
that a certain amount of outward religious observances 
will be all that the Lord requires of them ; while the 
main object of their ambition is, to stand high in the 
estimation of their associates in the world ; they banish 
from their thoughts the important truth that God 
looketh at the heart, and demands the supreme love of 
His creatures for Himself; and they live on, allowing 
the pleasures and ambitions of the world to intoxicate 
their minds and divert them from what is the great 
object which He proposes for our existence, viz: to 
glorify Him on earth, and enjoy Him forever in Heaven. 

If these things are so, it is a very serious matter ; 
and it is of the utmost importance that all should 
strive with all their power to work out their " salvation 
with fear and trembling/' remembering, that they will 
surely fail unless God shall work in them " both to will 
and to do of His good pleasure." [Phil, ii, 12, 13.] 
Unless they do this, they put in jeopardy their future 
and everlasting welfare, and are in imminent danger 
of meeting the fate foreshadowed by the rejection of the 
foolish virgins of the parable. 

A similar warning is given by Jesus, which was 
recorded by St. Luke, [see chapter xiii, 23 — 28.] 



ARTICLE XXII. 



The Wicked and Slothful Servant. — 
Matt, xxv, 14—30. 

THE parable of the talents is, like that of the ten 
virgins, one which only a part of it has a particular 
relation to the main object of these articles, viz : to 
make prominent the warnings in the bible, against 
yielding to the temptations which beset human nature 
to indulge in sins both of commission and omission, 
towards God and our fellow creatures. 

The largest part of the parable relates to the good 
and faithful servants, but with them I shall have little 
to do except to refer to them by way of contrast to the 
course adopted by the wicked and slothful servant. 

The first remark that I make respecting the word 
u servant" is that, in the Jewish economy, and gen- 
erally in the Christian Scriptures, it means a bond- 
servant. There were various ways by which persons 
became bound to serve others — one way was by being 
a thief, and if he had nothing to make restitution he 
was to be sold for his theft, [see Ex. xxii, 3] ; another 
way was by being in debt, when a person's services 
could be sold to pay it, but could not be sold for a longer 
term than six years; if the master had given a man- 
servant a wife and she has borne him sons or daugh- 
ters, the w T ife and her children remained the master's, 
but he might go out free [Ex. xxi, 2, 4] ; if the man- 
servant declared that he loved his Avife and children, 
and refused to go out, the master should bring him to 
the judges and also bring him to the doorpost, and his 
master bored his ear through with an awl, and he 
must serve for ever, [Ex. xxi, 5, 6.] 



124 THE WICKED AND SLOTHFUL SERVANT. 

We may presume that the slothful servant, (as was 
probably the case with the other servants,) was bound 
to this man by his own act and choice, and therefore 
under a sacred obligation to use both the powers of his 
body and mind to the best of his ability in the service 
of his master, which was more than the ordinary hired 
servant was expected to do, who generally only stipu- 
lated to serve with the skill and powers of his body, 
and only for the time which was agreed upon. 

And so it is with Christians who have arrived at 
years of discretion. Having incurred debts which the 
efforts of a whole life can never pay ; but the Savior 
has arranged for the payment of the indebtedness if 
they will turn from their sins and believe and obey 
Him, and use the talents which the Lord has given 
them for His honor and glory, which if faithfully per- 
formed, He will give the commendation of being 
"good and faithful servants," and invite them to par- 
ticipate in His "joy" which will never end. 

And may it not be so with many of the human race, 
that they can be counted as thieves, if they have used 
the powers and faculties of their bodies and minds and 
the favorable circumstances with which the Providence 
of God has surrounded them, iu merely self-indulgence, 
or worse still, in ministering to the moral depravity of 
their fellow-creatures, or yet more wickedly, have 
opposed the observance of God's laws — both those 
which have been written on their consciences and those 
which may be learned from the Holy Scriptures — and 
in giving aid to his enemies (the wicked angels) in 
their nefarious designs against the welfare of the 
human race ? But even these the Lord will receive as 
servants, if they will cease their rebellion and accept 
pardon offered through the merits of the Christ, and 
relying on His aid will spend the remainder of their 



THE WICKED AND SLOTHFUL SERVANT. 125 

lives in sincere efforts to set their affections on their 
Creator, Preserver and Benefactor, and on the holy 
employments which are the results of gratitude and 
love. 

When we interpret the parable as to its spiritual 
significations, as relating to events to take place at the 
end of the world, the man traveling into a far country, 
is understood to represent Jesus' bodily presence leaving 
the world at His ascension, and giving to His disciples 
the special abilities and graces, which if used faithfully, 
will enable them all to do something to advance the 
prosperity of His kingdom in the hearts of mankind. 

It is stated that the two first-named servants traded 
with their money, probably by buying large quantities 
of articles (by wholesale, as we say,) and then selling 
them at an advance, so that at the return of the lord 
they had doubled the money ; and in doing this they 
had to exercise prudence in purchasing, industry in 
selling, and care in investing the profits. This in its 
religious application may mean that the servants of 
the Lord Jesus whose abilities, whether mental or 
financial, enable them to exercise a large influence for 
the furtherance of the gospel in the world, if they use 
their abilities faithfully, either by preaching or sup- 
porting those who preach, or in any other way cause 
the gospal to be made known and accepted, will be 
acknowledged as faithful servants, and permitted to 
enter into the joy oi the Lord, or while receiving the 
commendation of the Master will be permitted to enjoy 
the fruits of his industry in the improved resources for 
happiness, which the results of his previous labors 
had provided. And the same remark is applicable to 
the servant whose abilities were less — faithfulness in 
using them will secure the same reward. 

The servant who received the one talent is under- 



126 THE WICKED AND SLOTHFUL SERVANT. 

stood to refer to those Christians of the lowest grade oi 
intelligence, who, if they cannot become teachers or 
prominent exemplars of the christian life, may yet, by 
a humble walk in the religious course do something to 
cause those who observe them to think well of the 
principles and truths which make a simple and 
unlearned person so good a neighbor and friend. It 
the servant whose case we are considering had done 
this, he would have done what his matter reproved 
him for not doing — put the money " to the exchangers," 
(or as the revised version has it, "to the bankers,") 
when he would have received not only the talent, but 
added usury. The word " usury" at that time signi- 
fied what money was worth to the user in doing 
business — equivalent to rent for the use of any other 
kind of property; at the present time it means a higher 
rate of interest than is allowed by the laws of a State, 
which many persons, taking advantage of a borrower's 
necessity, extort more than its use is worth; this is 
called extortion in the Scriptures, [I Cor. vi, 10.] 

I now come to the amount of money entrusted to 
the slothful servant, which cannot be definitely stated, 
as a talent was a weight either of gold or silver. If it 
is reckoned as of silver, it may be sufficient for the 
purpose of this article to roughly estimate the value as 
equal lo about one thousand dollars, which was a large 
sum to entrust to a servant of but moderate abilities. 

What this unprofitable servant of the parable did 
was to bury the talent in the earth — letting it lie there 
of no use to any one ; it were better it had been left in 
the mine, so far as its use during the time it was 
under the control of this slothful man was concerned. 

The religious condition of professed christians, who 
are represented by the last-named servant, is that of 
persons who, though nominally reckoned among christ- 



THE WICKED AND SLOTHFUL SERVANT. 127 

ian people, as Laving taken upon themselves the 
obligations of a christian life, yet perform none of 
its duties and do not exhibit in their lives any of its 
virtues, but, on the contrary, their lives are so filled with 
the affairs of this life, that no one who observes them 
can discover that they are the disciples of Christ whose 
great apostle to the Gentiles exhorted his followers to: 
"Be not conformed to this world." Or if they are 
known as having become the disciples of Christ, their 
habits of life are such as to repel their acquaintances 
from a proper consideration of claims of the Lord upon 
them. 

What were the reasons for this servant's failure in 
duty? A right-minded person, we might naturally 
suppose, would have felt honored by the confidence 
which had been manifested in him, and sought to 
justify his master's choice by endeavoring to employ 
the capital entrusted to him in the best manner he was 
able, to advance the interests of the lord's family. The 
first reason may have been that he was "wicked" — he 
repudiated his master's claim for his services, and 
determined to shirk the duties which had been laid 
upon him; he had no love for his master or his 
family, and would make no effort to ensure their 
prosperity, although his own welfare was indissolubly 
bound up with their well-being. A second reason 
appears to have been that he was " slothful," or lazy — 
he had no disposition to make the exertions necessary 
to success, preferring to spend his time in the trivial 
round of the common-place employments of getting his 
food and raiment, and amusing himself as much as 
possible, with no care for the promotion of his master's 
interests. He may have argued in own mind that he 
was not capable of conducting the business which lie 
had been ordered to undertake, and that if he should 



128 THE WICKED AND SLOTHFUL SERVANT. 

fail in it, and lose the money he would be severely 
blamed ; therefore he concluded that the safest way for 
him to do was to make sure that it would not be lost. 
He seems not to have thought of putting it where 
others could have used it, and that in that way the 
lord might receive some benefit from the use of his 
€apital ; and by this lack of forethought his indolence 
of mind as well as of body, was shown. 

The sentence passed upon this unfaithful man was: 

" Take therefore the talent from him 

and cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer dark- 
ness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ' n 

In the course of the sentence a rule is given which 
teaches us that, if we make a diligent use of our 
abilities for the glory of God, by efforts to promote the 
influence the Gospel of Jesus, in the hearts and on the 
lives of mankind, we may expect the commendation of 
the Lord; but if we neglect to so use them, we have no 
promise of favor, but every reason to expect a disgrace- 
ful and miserable future. 




JUDAS BETRAYING JESUS. 



ARTICLE XXIII 



Judas Iscariot. — Matt, xxvi, 14 — 16, 47-50, xxvii, 3-5 ; 
Mark xiv, 10, 11, 18—21,42—45; 
Luke xxii, 47 — 53 ; John xviii, 1 — 12. 

IN several of the preceding articles I have given my 
attention to some of the parables spoken by Jesus the 
Christ, to illustrate the dealings of the Lord with people 
in various relations and under a variety of circum- 
stances, and showing what may be expected to happen 
to some particular characters, as the result of their actions 
or a neglect of the proper activity to secure a desirable 
object. In this article I take up the subject of an actual 
historical fact, and one from which very important 
warnings can be derived. 

Judas Iscariot, (or to designate him more correctly 
Judas of Karioth, probably a native of Karioth, a town 
in the tribe of Judah mentioned in the xv. of Joshua 
25th,) to distinguish him from the person mentioned by 
St. Luke [vi, 16,] as Judas the brother of James, who 
was the writer of the epistle of Jude. 

Of the early history of Judas Iscariot, we have no 
knowledge, except that his father's name was Simon, 
[John vi, 71]. The first mention of his name occurs in 
Matt, x, where is given an account of the choosing of 
the twelve apostles. Judas had, probably been a disci- 
ple for some time ; but it is evident from the character 
of the notices of him, that in choosing to be a scholar 
of Jesus he acted from worldly motives. He had charge 
of what was given to his Master for the support of the 
Great Teacher and his pupils, and seemed to be partic- 
ularly interested in having the most made of every 
thing which could be turned to a pecuniary advantage, 
[see John xii, 4 — 6] ; this passage more than intimates 



132 JUDAS ISCARIOT. 

that lie was not very scrupulous as to the way in which 
he gained possession of what he carried in his bag, and 
also that he desired credit for a degree of benevolence 
which he did not possess. 

Jesus showed that he knew what Judas' disposition 
was, [see John vi, 70]. It has been a great question 
among christian teachers as to the reasons why the 
Savior chose such a character for one of his chief min- 
isters ; for although Judas and others of the eleven may 
have chosen to become His disciples, it was He who 
chose them to be His original twelve apostles, and sent 
them forth to act in His name, and proclaim the good 
news. Probably a number of reasons were in his mind 
for the choice, and possibly the following may have 
been among them : He would by that fact, give His 
followers in all future time to understand that they are 
not to expect perfection, or even freedom from hypocrisy, 
among His ministers, so that, while we are to listen to 
their preaching and practise the course of living which 
they prescribe so far as their teachings are founded upon 
the rules which the Christ has left us in His gospel; yet we 
are not unhesitatingly to follow their instructions, when 
their tendency is to lower the standard of christian liv- 
ing below the plain teachings of the scriptures ; but we 
may use their ministrations for the promotion of our 
spiritual health, as, if they have been truly called by 
the Lord to His service, they do not act in their own 
names, but in the name and by the authority of their 
Master. 

I now proceed to the consideration of the events lead- 
ing to the act for doing which Judas has, ever since, 
been thought to have been ths most wicked person who 
ever lived. 

When, as St. Luke informs us, [xxii, 3,] Satan enter- 
ed into Judas, he went to the chief priests and cap- 



JUDAS ISCARIOT. 133 

tains and offered to betray his Master to them. We 
may infer that these priests had made complaint to the 
Roman authorities, who had sent officers to arrest Jesus ; 
but before they could do this, they must find where He 
was and be able to identify Him ; as we should bear 
in mind that at that time there were thousands of 
strangers in Jerusalem, in attendance upon the feast of 
the passover commemoration. So the first prompting 
to the act was from Satan; and it was only because the 
temptation was addressed to a mind whose natural 
impulses were easily directed to any thing from which 
pecuniary gain could be derived that Satan was able to 
influence him. Had he promptly resisted the tempta- 
tion, he might have become one whom Christians would 
have been proud to honor as a saint. And so, too, many 
who since that time have begun in the christian life, if 
they had resolutely resisted every impulse of their 
minds which they had reason to think was prompted 
by an evil spirit, they would have been able to with- 
stand the wiles of the devils, and have been saved from 
back-sliding into perdition. As a most pertinent exhort- 
ation and direction on this point read Ephes. vi, 10 — 16. 

Judas, after receiving the promise of a reward if he 
would deliver his Master to the authorities, suggested 
as the sign by which they would know Him that he 
would give Him the salutation which has ever been 
regarded as evincing the most tender affection and sin- 
cere love — a kiss, evidently designing to deceive all 
who witnessed the act into a belief that he was a true 
and faithful disciple and apostle ; but how must he have 
felt reproved when the Master showed him that his 
hypocrisy was known and that his scheme to deceive 
had failed of its object. 

Had Judas become satisfied that Jesus was deceiving 
the people, and from that consideration was induced to 



134 JUDAS ISCARIOT. 

do what he could to stop His career, and for that pur- 
pose had secured the aid of the authorities to bring 
Him to justice, and had approached Him with an air 
of injured confidence and informed the officers that, 
that was the guilty man, his act would have been 
regarded with much less detestation than it has been ; 
but when it is remembered that he came with the 
cheering words : "Hail, Master/' and then saluted Him 
with an action of most confidential endearment, all for 
the purpose of pointing Him out to those who were 
intending to put Him to death, the act seems treacher- 
ous in a most aggravated degree. 

No account is given to us of the next act of Judas — 
that of receiving the promised reward, though from the 
related fact that he had it the next day, it is certain 
that he must have received it, but w T hether that night 
immediately after the arrest or the next morning, it is 
not necessary to enquire ; but whenever he received it, 
its possession did not long give him pleasure. The next 
day, when he saw the enemies of Jesus were likely to 
succeed in taking his life, he became conscious of the 
extreme wickedness of his act ; he repented of it ; the 
satisfaction of the possession of the thirty pieces of silver 
was gone. The traitor went to the chief priests and 
elders and confessed that he had betrayed an innocent 
person. They made the unfeeling reply to him : " What 
is that to us ? See thou to that" He threw down the sil- 
ver in the temple and went and hanged himself. And 
as if to make his death appear more terrible and revolt- 
ing, St. Peter states, in his speech before the council 
which elected Matthias as the successor of Judas, [Acts 
i, 16 — 20,] that his body fell "headlong, he burst asun- 
der in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out." 

Judas seemed to have had such a sense of the enormi- 
ty of his sin that he had no hope of pardon ; he did not 



JUDAS ISCAKIOT. 135 

wish to see the end of the affair, and, perhaps, thought 
that the suicidal act, together with the giving back the 
money would release him from the consequences of his 
treason — or at least modify them in a degree. The 
other mention of this man in the scriptures, lead us to 
suppose that he had commited that sin of which Jesus 
taught that it hath never forgiveness, but is in danger 
of eternal damnation. [Heb. x, 26, 27]. It seems to be 
a fact that, wherever the gospel has been known, Judas 
Iscariot is the person whose memory is held in the most 
severe execration. [See Matt, xxvi, 24.] 

The sin of Judas was, to make an exact definition, the 
offering for a money consideratioii, to assist those who 
were seeking to destroy Jesus, Whom he knew to be a 
good man from His kind and charitable deeds, a holy 
man from His stern rebukes of sin and wickedness, a 
wise man from His wonderful instructions, and a pow- 
ful Being from the miracles He performed, and which 
He enabled himself and his fellow disciples to perform 
in His name, and in doing this to act in the character 
of a zealous friend. 

In II Samuel, [xv, 31 ; xvi, 20-23 ; xvii, 1-2, 21-23]. 
mention is made of the counsel and acts of Ahithophel, 
who had been a trusted counselor to King David (an 
office something like an attorney-general in this nation); 
but he had changed his fealty and essayed to be coun- 
selor to David's son Absalom, who had risen in revolt 
against his father. Because his counsel was rejected by 
Absalom, and he saw nothing but ruin and disgrace as 
the future of his life, he went and hanged himself; of 
whom David wrote in psalm cix, 7 — 20, which is quoted 
by Peter [Acts i, 16 — 20,] as a prophecy of the fate of 
Judas, or, perhaps, was quoted as a precedent by which 
to guide the action of the first christian council in 
selecting a successor to Judas in the apostolic office. 



ARTICLE XXIV. 



Peter.— Matt, xxvi, 69—75 ; Mark xiv, 66—72 ; 
Luke xxii, 54—62 ; John xviii, 13 — 27. 

ANOTHER of Jesus' chosen Apostles manifested a 
marked evidence of cowardice, unexpected by himself, 
though warned of it by his Master. In Matt, xxvi, 31, it 
is related that Jesus foretold the disciples that they would 
all be offended on his account, and that in doing it 
they would be fulfilling a scripture prophecy. [See 
Zech. xiii, 7.] Peter with his usual forwardness, 
ventures to make a solemn assertion that he would 
never be offended. And when further informed that 
he would deny his Master three times, he was very 
positive that even if he should be threatened with 
death, he would not deny the relation which he sus- 
tained to Him whom he had acknowledged as the 
source of eternal life. [See John vi, 68.] There is no 
reason to doubt that when he made these emphatic 
declarations, he sincerely intended to be faithful to Jesus. 
We notice in St. Luke's account [Luke xxii, 36,1 
that but a short time before the betrayal Jesus had 
directed the disciples to buy swords; and Peter had 
provided himself with one, and not unnaturally, he 
may have thought that the time had come to use it. 
At the time of the arrest of Jesus Peter with his sword 
attacked one of the arresting party, and doubtless would 
have resisted the officers still further had not Jesus 
ordered him to put up his sword. In these acts he 
manifested an earnest desire to be faithful to his 
Master. He, like the other disciples, thought the 
Christ's kingdom was to be an earthly one, and rightly 




PETER DENYING JESUS. 



PETER. 137 

judged that in order to bring that idea to a success, his 
servants must fight ; and although there were but few 
of them comparatively, he had great faith in the 
power of Jesus to accomplish great results with but 
few followers, as the miracles which He had performed 
in the presence of many people gave him reasonable 
proof that He had all the power necessary to accomplish 
any object which he desired. 

Perhaps, had Peter been accosted after the arrest by 
some one in authority and required to give his tes- 
timony in the case, he might have responded affirm- 
atively, and kept his promise; but when, as they were 
seeking for witnesses, and only a young girl recognized 
him, and he, not desiring to appear in the case, thought 
that by denying the fact to her he should escape being 
called on to testify, told the lie without really designing 
to forsake his Master at the last. Though a short time 
before he had forsaken Jesus and fled, he soon turned 
back and followed at some distance, seemingly deter- 
mined to be at hand should his assistance be required. 

We may suppose that while the proceedings of that 
eventful night were occurring, the feelings of this 
disciple were in a very excited state — he was in no 
condition of mind to remember the warnings and 
instructions which Jesus had given him and his fellow 
disciples, his attention being absorbed by the events 
taking place, with probably fearful forebodings of the 
result of them in the future, left him no leisure for a 
calm reflection upon the subject of what action his 
duty to his Master required of him — all was confusion 
around him, which caused indecision and perturbation 
within him. While in this condition another girl saw 
him, and asserted her suspicion that he was with the 
accused, which he again denied with a solemn asserv- 
ation that he was telling the truth. After a time, in 



138 PETER. 

which he had joined in the conversation with those 
about him, they who stood near became convinced 
that he was a disciple of Jesus and charged him with 
it, when in order to keep up a consistency with his 
former assertions, he began to curse and to swear, 
declaring that he did not know the man. At this 
juncture the cock crew, and the Lord turned and 
looked at the liar and swearer, who was immediately 
reminded that he had violated his solemn promise ; 
had added falsehood upon falsehoods and imprecated 
curses on — whom? — it may have been on the young 
women who had been so inquisitive, or on those about 
him who were so suspicious of him, but in reality the 
curses came upon himself — he remembered his false- 
ness and his falsehoods and his impiety, and with 
feelings of deep anguish he went out and wept bitterly. 
At the first he was over-confident, and thought he could 
withstand all opposition in support of his Master ; and 
at the last he was rendered so weak and irresolute by 
the excitements of the occasion, that he would not 
acknowledge the truth even to a young girl. His great 
trial came from an unexpected source. This fact 
teaches that it is important to watch in all directions 
for danger. 

The xxii chapter of St. Luke's gospel 31st and 32d 
verses read: "And the Lord said: ' Simon, Simon, 
behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may 
sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee that thy 
faith fail not; and when thou art converted, strengthen 
thy brethren. 5 " In the Revised Version the same 
verses read: " Simon, Simon, behold Satan asked to 
have you that he might sift you as wheat ; but I made 
supplication for thee that thy faith fail not ; and do 
thou when once thou hast turned again stablish thy 
brethren." 



PETER. 139 

The xvii chapter of St. John's gospel contains a 
prayer which the Savior prayed, and the 9th to the 
24th verses inclusive, is probably the part of it which 
Jesus referred to in the verses from St. Luke just 
quoted. He may at some other time have offered a 
special prayer for Peter, but to my mind the series of 
petitions reported by St. John, very well answer to the 
description of a prayer that Peter's " faith fail not," 
although it included the other apostles. 

It is probable that this prayer was the cause of the 
final return of those, who at the time of Jesus' arrest 
forsook Him, to their former faith in Him as the 
Christ, and emboldened them to declare their convic- 
tions and argue their plausibility with a wisdom which 
their opposers were unable to gainsay ; so that, as the 
result of Peter's great sermon on the day of Pentecost, 
three thousand persons were added to the number of 
the disciples. [See Acts ii, 41.] 

We may learn from the gospels and epistles which 
have come down to this generation (more than one 
thousand eight hundred years,) that Jesus is still at the 
right hand of God making intercession for those who, 
through the temptations of Satan are led to deny Him 
or His truths, and if they will repent as Peter did, and 
return to their allegiance to the Lord who bought 
them [II Peter ii, 1 ; I Cor. vi, 20 ; Acts xx, 28] with 
His own blood, they will be permitted to see and share 
in His glory. [See II Cor. iii, 18,] and enter in the rest 
that remaineth for the people of God. [Heb. iv, 9.] 




RT. REV. E. R. WELLES, S. T. D. 



THIS PAGE IS DEVOTED 

TO THE MEMORY OF THE 

RT. REV. EDWARD R. WELLES, S.T.D., 

THIRD BISHOP OF MILWAUKEE. 



Born at Waterloo, N. Y, Jan. 10, 1830. 
Ordained Deacon at Geneva, N. Y, Dec. W, 1857 . 
Ordained Priest at Waterloo, N. Y, Sept. 1%, 1858. 
Became Rector of Christ Church, Bed Wing, Minn., Oct. 3, '58. 
Consecrated Bishop of Wisconsin* at New York, Oct. °25, '7Ip. 
Died at Waterloo, N. Y, Oct. W, 1888. 
Buried at Milwaukee, Wis., Oct. % %, 1888. 



To Bishop Welles' advice and encouragement, seconded 
by the favorable opinions of several of the leading 
clergymen of Milwaukee, and the President of the 
Milwaukee W. 0. T. Union, the author of this volume 
is indebted for deciding to publish at this time, what 
he supposed would fulfil its mission by being sent 
out to the public in a christian newspaper. To him 
and them his thanks are hereby publicly expressed. 
(See testimonials inside of covers.) 



*The name of the Diocese of Wisconsin was changed to Mil- 
waukee in June 1887. 



INTRODUCTION TO 
BISHOP WELLES' SERMON, 



IN the preceding articles the subjects have mostly 
been taken in the order in which they occur in the 
books of Genesis and Matthew ; but when they were 
completed, there was one parable which seemed to 
the author the most pertinent one in the gospels for 
this series of articles, and instead of writing upon it 
he requested of the Rev. E. S. Welles a sermon by his 
father on that parable, which request was granted. 
The sermon is as follows : 

THE PENITENTIAL GRACE OF HUMILITY. 



The Prodigal Son. 

TEXT. — And when he came to himself, he said :..... 
I will arise and go to my father. [Luke xv, 17—18.] 

THE Parable of the Prodigal Son, " We might say/' 
says Trench "if it be permitted to compare things 
divine one with another ; call the pearl and crown of 
the parables of scripture." 

It has also received the title of a gospel in the 
Gospel, and certainly the all-embracing nature of its 
teachings, the full circle of doctrine it contains would 
abundantly justify the epithet. 



144 THE PRODIGAL SON. 

There have been differences of opinion and varied 
interpretations in regard to its great primary applica- 
tion ; but its general teaching the all-important prac- 
tical lesson it inculcates, no one can overlook who 
strives to draw from the Word of God precepts and 
rules for the guidance of daily life. 

The parable is a history as well as a gospel — a 
history of personal experience; a personal appeal to 
every human life, showing us all the mercy of God 
towards us, by holding up as in a mirror before us, our 
own ingratitude and sinfulness. 

In the departure of the younger son from home, and 
the ills which befell him in the " far country " whither 
he journeyed are typified the certain downward path 
of the irreligious and the sorrows and sufferings which, 
sooner or later, inevitably are the results of sinful 
courses on earth. It teaches us that men cannot lay 
out their lives for self and pleasure, living independent 
of God and duty, without realizing in their own 
experiences of lite, the misery of the prodigal — that 
sense of the barrenness and wretchedness of sin which 
finds utterance in the words of that great English poet 
who, with everything that fortune and rank and genius 
could give him; who with capacities for good all 
sacrificed to what the world calls pleasure, and before 
he had reached half the allotted period of man's life, 
could in the reality of his want, exclaim : 

u My days are in the yellow leaf, 
The flowers, the fruits of love are gone ; 

The worm, the canker and the grief 
Are mine alone. 

The fire that on my bosom preys, 

Is lone as some volcanic isle ; 
The torch is lighted at its blaze— 

A funeral pile ! " 



THE PRODIGAL SON. 145 

And what a burial of the gifts and graces of God is 
every life of continuing and wilful sinfulness — the 
hopes once vital with active energy, now mere skele- 
tons of the past; the resolutions of our better days, 
sincerely, and it may be prayerfully, cherished, death 
beneath the weight of sins which were deliberate 
violations of them, and the good intentions which 
glowed and burned with life have been long since 
wasted and trampled, only paving the downward way. 

In the word which in our translation is rendered 
"riotous" — "he wasted his substance with riotous 
living," the dreadful folly of the sinner is most vividly 
set forth — ac/aoros riotous or dissolute is a compound 
word, and it signifies the life of one who in his wild 
way of living thinks that he needs not spare — that he 
will never come to an end of what he has, and it is 
this terrible delusion that blinds men, when the inor- 
dinate lusts of the flesh, or the inordinate love of 
money, or wilful neglect of the ordinances of God, and 
entire devotion of soul and body to the world are taking 
them captive and leading them on to ruin, and when,, 
like the prodigal, they begin to be in want — when in 
moments of seriousness they realize to some extent, 
their spiritual needs, how often do they try to find 
relief by plunging deeper into the sinful vortex that is 
swallowing them up. They entangle themselves more 
and more in the cares of business. 

The wealth — the possessions which they started in 
life with the idea of accumulating and using as min- 
isters to their pleasures and their wants — these things 
have been so sought and worshiped that the true end 
and aim of wealth has been entirely lost sight of, and 
the man becomes the slave, and gold the master. 

They become more and more devoted to the sinful 
pleasures of the world ; and then they find that the 



146 THE PRODIGAL SON. 

joys and delights for which they once had so keen a 
relish soon grow flat and unpalatable, and the drudgery 
of Satan's service begins, and the vileness of sin long 
hidden beneath tempting glosses, and the loathsome 
dregs of that Circean cup which they thought would 
alw r ays flash as brightly as it did when in an evil night 
it lured them from the path of right and duty — 
the vileness and the dregs are forced upon them 
unwillingly ; yet not able to refuse, for these alone can 
satisfy the cravings and gnawings of their sin-stricken, 
degenerate nature. 

What young man ever thought, when first he turned 
from living in accordance with the a lessons of the bible 
and the instructions of a christian home, that before 
many years had been added to his span of life, spirit- 
ual darkness w T ould have become an evil power and 
presence in his soul ; he thought that, at the most, a 
neglect of religious duties would be but a negative 
evil; but this can never be — for it is a law of our 
nature that something must fill the heart — must 
engage the affections of man : truth, and its glorious 
freedom, or lies and their degrading slavery. 

In the great battle of life none are spectators — one 
and all — old or young, must take sides ; who are not 
Christ's freemen are Satan's slaves ; and every conflict 
— every temptation draws more clearly the lines and 
marks more distinctly the fact that we are committed 
to one side or the other. Every time we fall under the 
dominion of sin we become more the slaves of Satan ; 
whenever in God's name and strength we resist the 
evil one we purchase to ourselves a higher degree in 
spiritual grace as Christ's freemen. Whenever we 
wilfully and deliberately sin, or having sinned are 
content to live impenitent, we are to the extent of our 
capacity robbing our life of its true life — sacrificing to 



THE PRODIGAL SON. 147 

that which is of the earth — earthy, the grace and the 
ornament of our immortal being. As fearful as is this 
end of sin and shame, it is an issue which lies in wait 
for any and every human being who forgets God and 
tries to live in and to himself. 

This is, in brief, the history which the parable 
unfolds — a history not less true than sad, as the experi- 
ence of many human lives bear evidence. And as its 
history is the history of fallen man, so is its gospel the 
good news of God to all mankind — the full and free 
invitation of that blessed Savior who came to earth to 
call sinners to repentance, entreating all who know the 
wretchedness of a life apart from God to return to their 
father's home — to throw themselves on the riches of 
His mercy and henceforward to live not to the lusts of 
men but to the will of God. 

As the first step in his return to a better life the Holy 
Spirit awakens in the sinner's heart a desire which is 
based on man's faith in the unchanging love of God : 
*I will arise and go to my Father." 

The career of sin, as we all well know, is ever carrying 
man further and further from his God. In his weak- 
ness and wickedness he despises the gifts and the 
privileges of his heavenly sonship; but God neither 
forgets nor forsakes him. Bitter punishments find out 
his sins — but they are expressions of His love who 
ever loves and would ever save the sinner; and it is 
this severe and loving discipline that often checks the 
course of the careless and sinful man and brings him to 
himself. 

It was when the younger son came to himself that 
he said : " I will arise." Deeply significant are these 
words : "he came to himself," teaching us that coming 
to ourselves and coming to God are one and the same 
thing; for He being the true ground of our being 



148 THE PRODIGAL SON. 

when we find ourselves we find Him — or rather, 
because having felt after in faith and found God, we 
have truly found ourself." [Trench.] 

" But what is it that gives the sinner a sure ground 
of confidence that, returning to God he shall not be 
repelled or cast out? It is the adoption of sonship 
which he received in Christ Jesus at his baptism, and 
his faith that the gifts and calling of God are on His 
part without repentance and recall." [Trench.] In 
baptism he was made a child of God ; he has grieved 
his Father's heart and gone from His presence—but 
that Father will in no wise cast him out if he in pen- 
itence returns. He was made a member of Christ 
long since ; all spiritual life seemed wasted and gone — 
but the grace of Christ is life-giving; for He is the 
resurrection and the life. He was made an inheritor 
of heaven; for years he despised his birthright; but 
his privileges abide for him — God's grace abides! 
The gifts of God are without recall — but that man may 
receive the benefits of this grace he must show his 
earnest desire by arising and going to his Father and 
making unto Him full confession of his sins. 

The nature of all sin is this : that, whatever may be 
its effects upon ourselves or others, its great heinous- 
ness consists in its being an offense against God. 
Therefore, the beginning of all true repentance is the 
earnest conviction of this truth. Until the repentant 
man, in heartfelt, sincere prayer, humbles himself 
before God and confesses his own un worthiness : "I 
have sinned against Heaven and before Thee," he can- 
not look with any hopefulness for signs of God's mercy 
and favor and grace. 

Surely, when a sinful man would return from that 
far country of wilful disobedience in which years of his 
life have passed ; when he would return to his Father's 



THE PRODIGAL SON. 149 

home, most carefully should he cherish this just feeling 
of humility and devotion; "for there is nothing 
greater in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, nothing more 
precious in the treasures of God ; nothing more holy 
among all the graces — and when a man would rid him- 
self of his sinful habits and arise and go to his father 
bringing the tribute of a broken, humble, contrite 
heart, he will be met while yet a great way off; there 
will be no severity nor sternness in the infinite loving 
kindness of Him who would embrace in His arms all 
the w r eak and weary and heavy-laden of earth that He 
might give them rest. 

That first feeble realization of his own sinfulness and 
wretchedness ; the first weak motions towards good ; 
the ripening desire to lead a christian life, were 
whisperings of the Holy Spirit of God, striving with 
the inner man. He may not feel now as fully as one 
day he surely will — if he is faithful and earnest in his 
christian life, the goodness and holiness of Him to 
whom he is returning ; but if only he arises and 
comes to his father, he will be strengthened in the way, 
for God will draw him to Him w T ith the tender cords of 
affection and will shadow his onward path with his 
great love, that he may be shielded from the evil that 
is in the world. 

But that he may thus meet with evidences of divine 
love, there must be on his part a full and free confes- 
sion of sin and an earnest resolution to abandon it, 
God being his helper, henceforth and forever. He 
must not seek to hide from the eye of God his own moral 
loathsomeness, nor must he deceive himself with the 
idea that the christian profession is a way of life easily 
attained and easily kept. 

It is the blessed privilege of the truly penitent to 
believe without doubt that, if he sincerely confesses 



150 THE PRODIGAL SON. 

and heartily repents him of his sin, God will, for 
Christ's sake, forgive him ; but though God forgives, 
man is not to forget his past sinfulness. Repentance 
does not end with a sense of forgiveness ; but rather 
should forgiveness deepen and strengthen its fervency 
and its reality. The relation in which repentance and 
forgiveness stand to each other is set forth in passages 
such as this from the book of the prophet Ezekiel 
[xxxvi, 31.] Then [see verses 25 — 30 paraphrased] 
after I have cleansed you, after I have given you a 
new heart, after I have heaped all my richest blessings 
upon you, " Then " under a sense of these — " shall ye 
remember your own evil ways, and of your doings that 
were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own 
sight for your iniquities and for your abominations." 
It is not only so long as he is in suspense concerning 
the forgiveness of his sins, that the sinner is to exercise 
repentance — for the more real his knowledge becomes 
of the forgiving love of God, the stronger is the reason 
(and he will feel it so,) that he should mourn for ever 
having sinned against such love. 

Let a man feel that in returning to his Father's 
home he is coming into the presence of a God pure 
and holy, and yet so merciful that, although he has 
wasted his substance in riotous living ; has worn out 
years in earthly cares which were given him for 
heavenly preparation ; has made the riches and honors 
of this world — not the kingdom of God and His 
righteousness — things first to be sought; brings not 
the full rich returns of a life of love, devotedness and 
obedience — but only the gleanings of a vintage pressed 
into the cup of pleasure ; that notwithstanding all this, 
that father when he sees him yet a great way off, goes 
forth to meet him and receives him with the kiss of 
peace and reconciliation, and brings forth the robe and 



THE PRODIGAL SON. 151 

the ring and the shoes as tokens of his full restoration 
to all the privileges of sonship and inheritance. Let 
the truly penitent feel that the relation in the parable 
is but an imperfect type of God's loving kindness, and 
he need not be exhorted to carry the sorrows of his 
repentance into the daily thoughts and meditations 
and prayers of the closet, and day-by-day to show forth 
in his life an active sense of God's unmerited and 
abounding goodness. Deep, earnest, life-continuing 
and self-mortifying penitence is that hidden path 
along which the Christian w r alks with his God. 

It is not the mere profession of penitence — it is not 
the hastily uttered expression of belief that comprise 
the essential acts of godly repentance and true christian 
faith. The duties of that life of which repentance and 
faith are the conditions and the beginning, are arduous 
and life-long, and these daily, hourly duties are such 
as most severely try the strength and consistency 
of christian character. And thus a bishop of the 
church, when speaking of that long contest with pagan 
philosophy w T hich issued in the complete triumph 
Christianity, says: " It was a noble triumph, and it is 
w 7 ritten on an immortal page, even the souls of men; 
but we may not say that it was the noblest of the 
triumphs of the Faith, for there are tears of penitence 
and lives of holiness. And such tears and such lives 
there will be ever in the Christian Church." 

And in that day when God shall make up his jewels, 
their souls will be precious in his sight, who in their 
lives have added to the penitential grace of humility 
that of faith in Christ, which is the earnest of a holy 
life ; who trusting not in their own merits, but in the 
mercy of their Savior, have felt and confessed their 
own un worthiness in the sight of God ; but who have 
never made that feeling the ground of careless con- 



152 THE PRODIGAL SON. 

fidence or inactive despair — but have found in it the 
rather a continual incentive to earnest and renewed 
strivings after godliness of life ; that, whereas, being 
long dead in worldliness and sin, they may show forth 
in their lives the power of a living faith; having 
wandered and been lost, they may give evidence in 
their conduct that they have been found of God. 



TESTIMONIALS. 



From the Rt. Rev. E. R. Welles, Late Bishop of Milwaukee. 

Diocesan Office, 222 Juneau Ave., Milwaukee, ) 
March 14, 1888. \ 

I have read a number of the papers prepared by Mr. Rawson, 
and I regard them as valuable and suggestive, and worthy of gen- 
eral circulation. E. R. Welles. 

I first saw these papers in September last, and at that time spoke 
to Mr. Rawson of the advisabilitv of publishing them in a book 
form. E. R. W. 

[The testimonial of Bishop Welles relates to all the articles up to 
Number xix, which were all that were written at the time of bis 
departure for England.] 

[The testimonials of the other persons here given relate to all the 
articles which were printed in the " Christian Statesman, " which 
include all the articles up to number xvi, excepting number xi, 
which was not published in the " Statesman."] 

Prom the Rev. Dr. Ide, Pastor of Grand Ave. Congregational 
Church, Milwaukee. 
These papers prepared by Mr. Rawson, are thoughtful and 
will prove useful and instructive to those who rea'd them. 

Geo. H. Ide. 



From the Rev. Dr. Herr, Pastor of Baptist Tabernacle Church. 

Pastor's Study* Milwaukee, Jan. 21st, 1888. 
I have examined the Papers of Mr.E. Rawson, and take pleas- 
ure in adding my testimony to their merit. The practical lessons 
drawn from the numerous portions of the Bible, are worthy the 
thought and study of every lover of truth and righteousness. I 
trust their publication will meet with the reception they deserve 
from the reading public. /. D. Herr, Pastor Bap t Tabernacle. 

From the Rev. Mr Keihle, Pastor of Calvary Presbyterian 
Church, Milwaukee. 

I have examined the papers prepared by Mr. Rawson, which 
must have required much labor upon his part. They will surely 
be interesting and of profit to any one who reads them. 

A A. Keihle. 



TESTIMONIALS. 

From the Eev. Thos. Fagan, Pastor of Church of Immaculate 

Conception. 

Mr. E. Rawson, Daar Sir — I return you "Intoxication." The 
ideas it contains are very good, and suited to the times. 

Yours truly, Thos. Fagan. 

From the Rev. Mr. Brokaw, Pastor of Church of Christ. 

Milwaukee, Wis., Apr. 3d, 83. 
I have read some of the chapters written by Elijah Rawson, 
and think that the advice, if followed, would enable one to over- 
come in the hour of temptation. G. L. Brokaw, 

Pastor Church Christ, 416 Hanover st. 



From the Rev. Mr. Freeman. Pastor of Immanuel Presbyterian Ch. 
Immanuel Church, Milwaukee, Wis., June 7th, 1888. 
My Deir Mr. Rawson, — I have read these articles with rmu'li 
interest. You have made strong points against that terrible evil 
which is sapping our national vitality. You have done well to 
briDg out the Scriptural teachings and warnings against the sin of 
intemperance in every form. Sincerely Yours, J. N. Freeman. 

From Mrs. Herb, Pres't of Women's Christ'n Temperance Union. 
Mr. E. Rawson, — I have read your papers with much interest, 
and tiiink their circulation in some permanent form would prove a 
desirable addition to temperance literature. 

Yours cordially, Anna M. Herr, Pres. Milwaukee W. C. T. U. 

[The articles written since Bishop Welles 7 departure for England, 
have been submitted, at the Bishop's suggestion, to the Rev. 
Dr. Ashley, of Milwaukee, and the following is his opinion : 
My examination of the Articles on the Cases of Intoxication 
related in the Holy Scriptures, composed and about to be published 
in a book by Mr. Elijah Rawson, has elicited my respect for his 
patient and persevering industry; and inspired me with the hope, 
that the study and labor he has devoted to their preparation may 
be crowned with such pecuniary returns as they deserve and he 
may need, and prove as useful to their readers as he has conscien- 
tiously striven to make them. Wm Bliss Ashley, 

Canon of All Saints Cathedral. 
M lwaukee, July A. D. 1889. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS § i 

019 971 749 2 



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